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. 2022 Jan;45(1):9-17.
doi: 10.1016/j.gastrohep.2020.11.020. Epub 2021 Feb 2.

The EPAGE guidelines are not an effective strategy for managing colonoscopies during the COVID-19 pandemic

[Article in English, Spanish]
Lorena Rodríguez-Alonso  1 , Francisco Rodríguez-Moranta  2 , Sandra Maisterra  2 , Josep M Botargues  2 , Ana Berrozpe  2 , Alexandra Ruíz-Cerulla  2 , Gerard Suris  2 , Blau Camps  2 , Joan B Gornals  2 , Jordi Guardiola  2
Affiliations

The EPAGE guidelines are not an effective strategy for managing colonoscopies during the COVID-19 pandemic

[Article in English, Spanish]
Lorena Rodríguez-Alonso et al. Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

Introduction: The pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has had a serious impact on the functioning of gastrointestinal endoscopy Units. The Asociación Española de Gastroenterología (AEG) and the Sociedad Española de Endoscopia Digestiva (SEED) have proposed the EPAGE guidelines for managing postponed colonoscopies.

Objective: To evaluate the EPAGE guidelines as a management tool compared to the immunologic faecal occult blood test (iFOBT) and compared to risk score (RS) that combines age, sex and the iFOBT for the detection of colorectal cancer (CRC) and significant bowel disease (SBD).

Methods: A prospective, single-centre study enrolling 743 symptomatic patients referred for a diagnostic colonoscopy. Each order was classified according to the EPAGE guidelines as appropriate, indeterminate or inappropriate. Patients underwent an iFOBT and had their RS calculated.

Results: The iFOBT (p<0.001), but not the EPAGE guidelines (p = 0.742), was an independent predictive factor of risk of CRC. The ROC AUCs for the EPAGE guidelines, the iFOBT and the RS were 0.61 (95% CI 0.49-0.75), 0.95 (0.93-0.97) and 0.90 (0.87-0.93) for CRC, and 0.55 (0.49-0.61), 0.75 (0.69-0.813) and 0.78 (0.73-0.83) for SBD, respectively. The numbers of colonoscopies needed to detect a case of CRC and a case of SBD were 38 and seven for the EPAGE guidelines, seven and two for the iFOBT, and 19 and four for a RS ≥5 points, respectively.

Conclusion: The EPAGE guidelines, unlike the iFOBT, is not suitable for screening candidate patients for a diagnostic colonoscopy to detect CRC. The iFOBT, in combination with age and sex, is the most suitable strategy for managing demand for endoscopy in a restricted-access situation.

Keywords: Adecuación; Colonoscopia; Colonoscopy; EPAGE; EPAGE guidelines; Immunologic faecal occult blood test; Prioritization; Priorización; Suitability; Test de sangre oculta en heces.

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Figures

Figura 1
Figura 1
A) Porcentaje de solicitudes de colonoscopias consideradas adecuadas en función de la estrategia utilizada y el número de individuos con cáncer colorrectal detectado tanto en las solicitudes adecuadas como inadecuadas. B) Porcentaje de solicitudes de colonoscopias consideradas adecuadas en función de la estrategia utilizada y el número de individuos con lesión significativa colónica detectada tanto en las solicitudes adecuadas como inadecuadas.
None
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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