In response to the recent article in the New York Times, “Colonoscopies may miss cancers in the colon’s right side, study suggests.”

The article suggests that Colonoscopies may miss cancers in the colon’s right side, according to a recent study appearing online in the Dec. 16th issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The study reports that Canadian researchers found that “the test missed just about every cancer in the right side of the colon, where cancers are harder to detect, but about 40 percent arise.”

Our physicians address this study with the following points:

1.  Most colonoscopies in Canada are performed by Primary Care Physicians rather than Gastroenterologists, who have better training and more experience in performing procedures. When scheduling a colonoscopy, patients should be aware of the training and experience of the specialist who will be performing their procedure.

2.  Our physicians take great effort to prepare each patient prior to a colonoscopy. Each patient is given detailed instructions over the telephone and provided a packet that explains how to properly prepare for the exam.

3.  RMGA has been tracking our cecal (right-side) intubation rates (how often we get to the top of the colon), our polyp detection rates, and our cancer detection rates for two years, all of which meet or exceed USA national averages. All of these measurements increase the likelihood of identifying and removing as many polyps as possible.

RMGA’s data from 3rd Quarter 2008 indicates that of the 1423 polyps removed from the colonoscopies that RMGA physicians performed, 454 (roughly 32%) were found in the ascending (right side) colon, which is consistent with physicians in large gastroenterology practices in the US.

4.  Virtual Colonoscopy is more likely to miss small and flat polyps than the traditional optical colonoscopy.

If you have any questions about RMGA’s methods of performing colonoscopy procedures, our quality of care, or would like to talk with one of our physicians prior to the procedure, please contact Kate Beeman, COO at 720-544-2078 or at kbeeman@rmgacolorado.com.