Lesions, often overlooked during colonoscopy, more dangerous than polyps

A new discovery shows that colonoscopy, the examination of the large colon and the distal part of the small bowel to detect the formation of cancerous cells, is not as thorough as it should be.

Photo: Lesions, often overlooked during colonoscopy, more dangerous than polyps

The target of such an examination is large and obvious polyps, while flat, hard-to-detect lesions in the colon are not taken into consideration. That’s the biggest mistake, because these lesions are not normal tissue, they are quite dangerous germs of “sleeping” cancer (flat lesions appear more likely to become malignant). So the risk of developing cancer from lesions is almost 10 times higher.

The interest sparked when lesions were found in 9.4 percent of 1,819 veterans in the screening study at California hospital.

For better detection one requires:

- More training and time;

- New and improved endoscopes;

- Usage of an indigo spray to highlight the lesions.

It’s also very important to undergo a very unpleasant but important procedure – cleaning of bowel in order to detect subtle changes.

Photo: www.wikipedia.org