Experience Counts in Colonoscopy: Study

Doctors become proficient at about 150 procedures, researchers say

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

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WEDNESDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) -- Experience is key to successful colonoscopies, and doctors who perform these procedures need to do more than 150 before they become proficient.

So concludes of one of several studies on colon cancer, the results of which were outlined in a special news conference Wednesday at the annual Digestive Disease Week conference, in Washington, D.C.

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Some other findings: Increased risk of colon cancer in men is linked with high levels of the blood inflammatory marker C-reactive protein; discomfort during colonoscopy among the elderly is a myth; newer high-resolution colonoscopes miss cancers at the same rate as standard scopes; and sedation and thorough bowel-cleansing make for a successful colonoscopy.

In the first study, Dr. S. Lee, from Soon Chun Hyang University, Cheonan, South Korea, and colleagues looked at the results of more than 3,700 colonoscopies.

They found that overall, more than 79 percent were completed successfully. However, for those doctors who had performed more than 150 colonoscopies, the success rate jumped to 97.1 percent.

Moreover, among those doctors who had done more than 150 procedures, the time needed to insert the colonoscope tube into the bowel dropped from 14.2 minutes to just under 10 minutes.

"We suggest that the minimum number of procedures to attain technical competency is more than 150," Lee said.

In another study, Dr. H. Chiu, from the Department of Internal Medicine at the National Taiwan University Hospital, and colleagues measured blood levels of C-reactive protein, an indication of inflammation, in almost 6,700 people who had undergone colonoscopy.

Chiu's team found that C-reactive protein levels were significantly higher in men with colon cancer than in men who did not have the illness. However, this association was found only among men.

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