How to improve the adenoma detection rate in colorectal cancer screening? Clinical factors and technological advancements

INTRODUCTION: Colonoscopy has been widely regarded as the gold standard in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. Within recent years different endoscopic imaging techniques have been introduced to improve the quality of colonoscopy. The adenoma detection rate (ADR) is the single most important quality indicator for colonoscopy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of CRC screening expressed by ADR in two different eras of endoscopic technology advancement. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted a dual-center study that enrolled 24 055 patients, who underwent colonoscopy as part of a national screening program. Patients were sorted into two groups according to the advancement of endoscopic equipment used for colonoscopic examination: group I – 10 405 patients examined between 2004 and 2008 (standard electronic endoscopes); group II – 13 650 patients examined between 2009 and 2014 (modern endoscopes). The ADR in two different eras and the impact of endoscopic novelties were determined. RESULTS: The ADR in group I was 29.14%, in group II 31.73% (p < 0.001). The overall ADR was 30.88% – 38.80% and 25.95% (p < 0.001) for the male and female patients, respectively. The mean adenoma number per colonoscopy was 0.366 (95% CI: 0.357–0.375; p < 0.001), 0.337 (0.321–0.352) and 0.380 (0.369–0.392) for patients in group I and group II, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that technological innovation, novel endoscopy devices and diagnostic techniques improve the quality in CRC screening by increasing the ADR. However, we need to determine which of the technologies are supreme to achieve excellence in colorectal cancer screening.