1. How Often Does Colonoscopy Fail To Detect Polyps?
- Author
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Pickhardt, P. J., Nugent, P. A., Mysliwiec, P. A., Choi, J. R., and Schindler, W. R.
- Subjects
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COLON cancer , *POLYPS , *COLONOSCOPY , *COLON examination , *CANCER patients , *X-rays - Abstract
This article presents a question-answer advisory related to the failure of colonoscopy to detect polyps of colon. Cancer of the large intestine or rectum is called colorectal cancer. It is the second leading cause of death from cancer in the United States. Polyps precede most cases of colorectal cancer. The optical colonoscopy (OC) procedure requires patient sedation and may miss some growths that are hidden behind folds in the colon. Doctors might also use a newer procedure called virtual colonoscopy (VC) to find polyps and early tumors. Virtual colonoscopy uses x-rays and computers to produce 3-dimensional images of the inside of the colon. It takes about 10 minutes and does not require sedation. Recently, researchers have used VC to study how often OC misses polyps. Researchers studied 1233 adults without any symptoms who participated in a colorectal cancer screening trial.
- Published
- 2004
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