Surveillance for One or Two Small Adenomas: Low Risk Is Really Low Risk

The optimal timing for postpolypectomy surveillance for low-risk adenomas, defined as 1-2 small tubular adenomas, has remained a challenge for clinicians and guideline developers over past 4 decades. From the 1970s to the 1990s, it was common practice for clinicians to recommend annual surveillance for even a small adenoma (ie, <10 mm), because of the perceived knowledge that all adenomas were premalignant.1 In 1993, the National Polyp Study helped to provide much needed evidence for the timing of postpolypectomy surveillance by showing there was no difference in the risk of finding an advanced adenoma at 1 and 3 years after the baseline colonoscopy versus 3 years alone.

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