The U.S. Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer updated its 2012 recommendations for postcolonoscopy follow-up with or without polypectomy, according to an article in Gastroenterology Consultant.
What you should know:
1. The task force made several key updates, recommending physicians:
- Make more detailed follow-up recommendations to patients after removing serrated polyps
- Follow updated polyp surveillance recommendations that are based on CRC outcomes risk
- Conduct comprehensive high-quality baseline examinations
2. The task force also issued several recommendations backed by strong evidence. Patients with normal results should repeat their CRC screening every 10 years. The yearly repeat interval gets shorter as adenoma size gets larger.
3. The task force said: "CRC incidence and mortality are decreasing secondary to improvements in risk factor exposures, screening, treatment, and perhaps exposure to surveillance among patients with polyps. Given that some patients with polyps appear to have persistently increased risk for CRC, and many have increased risk for advanced neoplasia on follow-up, surveillance colonoscopy to attempt to reduce CRC risk is clinically rational and recommended."
Read the entire guideline here.