Physicians Office Resource Volume 8 Issue 07 | Page 19

PHYSICIANS OFFICE RESOURCE NEWS BRIEFS Selected by POR Editorial Board L ittle benefit for repeat colonoscopy within 10 years in patients with no polyps on initial exam Repeat colonoscopies within 10 years are of little benefit to patients who had no polyps found on adequate examination; however, repeat colonoscopies do benefit patients when the baseline examination was compromised, according to research published in the August issue of Gastroenterology. David A. Lieberman, M.D., of the Oregon baseline examination, the incidence of large polyps upon repeat colonoscopy was 3.1 percent (95 percent CI, 2.7 to 3.5 percent) within one to five years and 3.7 percent (95 percent CI, 3.3 to 4.1 percent) within five to 10 years. "In light of the maturing body of evidence about the strong influence of sex, race/ ethnicity, and other factors (e.g., tobacco, alcohol, diet) on the risk of neoplasia, individualized risk-based screening and surveillance algorithms should be developed," write the authors of an accompanying editorial. The practice network has received funding from pharmaceutical and biomedical companies. F or VTE Prevention, Best Anticoagulant Varies by Surgery Aspirin may be less preferable to other anticoagulants following hip fracture repair, but may be favored after elective knee or hip arthroplasty, according to a meta-analysis published online July 17 in the Journal of Hospital Medicine. Frank S. Drescher, M.D., from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in White River Junction, Vt., and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to identify randomized trials comparing aspirin to anticoagulants for prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) following major lower extremity orthopedic surgery. The researchers identified eight trials (1,408 participants) that met inclusion criteria. Deep venous thrombosis rates did not differ statistically between aspirin and anticoagulants (relative risk [RR], 1.15; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.68 to 1.96). There was a nonsignificant trend favoring anticoagulation following hip fracture repair (RR, Health and Science University in Portland, and colleagues analyzed data for 17,525 asymptomatic patients who were found to have no polyps during a screening colonoscopy and received another colonoscopy within 10 years. The researchers found that repeat c