Analyzing data from 3,627, researchers found that among 1,029 patients with no precancerous colorectal growths at initial exam, 58 percent underwent a follow-up colonoscopy every 3.9 years. The current recommendation for low-risk patients is every five to 10 years, according to the report.
Conversely, only 58.4 of patients that had advanced precancerous growths at initial examination underwent follow-up colonoscopy within five years, despite recommendations for follow-up every three years.
Some physicians have noted this discrepancy as an indication of the flawed healthcare system in the United States and that better recordkeeping and payments based on quality outcomes opposed to fee-for-service may work to improve surveillance of high-risk patients, according to the report.
Read the Reuters report on surveillance colonoscopy.
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