Camp Hill, Pa.-based company GI Supply launched the Spot Ex Endoscopic Tattoo to help gastroenterologists and surgeons fight colon cancer. Spot Ex is now indicated for clinical surveillance and surgical localization.
Here are three things you should know:
1. Recently published statistics in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute show that colon cancer incidence and mortality rates are rising in younger patients.
2. The European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy released guidelines that recommend the tattooing of malignant lesions, post-polypectomy sites and difficult-to-detect polyps to allow for identification during follow-up surgery or colonoscopy.
3. Spot Ex provides a permanent mark and is typically around 50 percent darker than the current Spot product, making it easier for endoscopists and surgeons to find.
"As a therapeutic endoscopist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, I am often referred complex polyp removal cases. In those scenarios, it is very beneficial to have the polyp tattooed for easy identification," said Chicago-based gastroenterologist Srinadh Komanduri, MD. “In addition, post-resection I typically follow-up with the patient within six months to ensure there is no adenoma recurrence, and a tattoo helps with that surveillance."
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