Best practice advice for common polyps encountered during a screening colonoscopy

In this timely CPU, authors Drs. Andrew Copeland, Charles Kahi, Cynthia Ko and Gregory Ginsberg, provide guidance on the various colon polypectomy techniques and how to know which one to use when. Identifying and properly resecting polyps is crucial to ensuring appropriate colorectal cancer prevention during colonoscopy. This guidance focuses on polyps <2 cm in size that are most commonly encountered by the typical endoscopist.

Quick watch:

Author Dr. Cynthia Ko gives an overview of the various polyp classification systems and their corresponding polypectomy methods.

Key takeaways

• Use cold snare polypectomy for polyps <10 mm in size. Cold forceps polypectomy can alternatively be used for 1- to 3-mm polyps where cold snare polypectomy is technically difficult. Do not use hot forceps polypectomy.

• Do not routinely use clips to close resection sites for polyps <20 mm.

• Refer patients with nonpedunculated polyps with clear evidence of submucosally invasive cancer for surgical evaluation.

Read the full AGA Clinical Practice Update on the Role of Noninvasive Biomarkers in the Evaluation and Management of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Expert Review, published in the March issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

See the full 12 best practice advice statements on our clinical guidance page.