The American Gastroenterological Association has identified five treatments physicians and patients should question as part of its involvement in the Choosing Wisely campaign to identify the overuse or misuse of tests or medical procedures, according to a news release and factsheet (pdf).
The list of "Five Things Physicians and Patients Should Question" is as follows:
- For pharmacological treatment of patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease, long-term acid suppression therapy (proton pump inhibitors or histamine2 receptor antagonists) should be titrated to the lowest effective dose needed to achieve therapeutic goals.
- Do not repeat colorectal cancer screening (by any method) for 10 years after a high-quality colonoscopy is negative in average-risk individuals.
- Do not repeat colonoscopy for at least five years for patients who have one or two small (< 1 cm) adenomatous polyps, without high-grade dysplasia, completely removed via a high-quality colonoscopy.
- For a patient who is diagnosed with Barrett’s esophagus, who has undergone a second endoscopy that confirms the absence of dysplasia on biopsy, a follow-up surveillance examination should not be performed in less than three years as per published guidelines.
- For a patient with functional abdominal pain syndrome (as per ROME III criteria) computed tomography scans should not be repeated unless there is a major change in clinical findings or symptoms.
In addition to AGA, eight other societies have developed lists for Choosing Wisely, including the American College of Physicians, American Academy of Family Physicians and American College of Radiology.
Choosing Wisely is an initiative of the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation.
Related Articles on the American Gastroenterological Association:
Study: Patients With GI Disorders May Receive Significant Doses of Diagnostic Radiation
Study: Adult Irritable Bowel Syndrome Linked to Childhood Trauma
CDC and AGA Join to Provide Free Colonoscopies to Patients in Seven States