Neoplasia at 10-year follow-up screening colonoscopy in a private U.S. practice: comparison of yield to first-time examinations

Despite being 10 years older, persons with a screening colonoscopy with negative results 10 years earlier had lower rates of adenoma and advanced neoplasm at the second screening examination compared with patients in the same practice undergoing a first screening colonoscopy, and they had no cancers. The fraction of advanced neoplasms that were proximal to the sigmoid colon was high in both first and second screenings. These results support the safety of the recommended 10-year interval between colonoscopies in average-risk persons with an initial examination with negative results.