The U.S. Multi-Society Task Force updated guidelines on surveillance colonoscopy in patients who have undergone surgical resection for colorectal cancer, according to a Gastroenterology & Endoscopy News report.
The recommendations, initially published in 2006, provide consensus guidelines for gastroenterologists.
Here are four points:
1. The updated guidelines stress the importance of surveillance for reducing mortality.
2. The task force recommends that GI physicians perform a meticulous colonoscopy preoperatively or within three to six months after surgery.
3. Another recommendation suggests that patients undergo another colonoscopy one year after curative resection.
4. In addition, the task force discussed the usefulness of fecal occult blood tests in CRC patients after surgery.