Objectives: This study aims to evaluate whether the participation of an experienced endoscopy nurse in colonoscopy increases the polyp detection rate (PDR) and adenoma detection rate (ADR) of experienced colonoscopists.
Methods: This study was a randomized controlled trial. Patients were randomly assigned to the experienced colonoscopist alone (single observer) group, or experienced nurse participation (dual observer) group. The primary outcome was the PDR and ADR. The advanced lesion detection rate was also recorded.
Results: A total of 587 patients were included in the analysis. Among these patients, 291 patients were assigned to the single observer group, while 296 patients were assigned to the dual observer group. The PDR was 33% in the single observer group and 41.9% in the dual observer group (P = 0.026), while the ADR was 23.0% in the single observer group and 30.4% in the dual observer group (P = 0.043). No significant difference was found for advanced lesions between groups.
Conclusions: The present data demonstrated that experienced nurse observation during colonoscopy can improve polyp and adenoma detection rates, even if the colonoscopist is experienced.
Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov No. NCT02292563. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?cond=&term=NCT02292563&cntry=&state=&city=&dist=.
Keywords: Adenoma detection, colorectal cancer; Nurse assistance; Polyp detection.