Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35428894›Full record

ArticleSurgical endoscopy2022

The impact of delaying colonoscopies during the COVID-19 pandemic on colorectal cancer detection and prevention.

Jessica Holland, Michelle Cwintal, Georgia Rigas, Allison J Pang, Carol-Ann Vasilevsky, Nancy Morin, Gabriela Ghitulescu, Julio Faria, Marylise Boutros

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Surgical endoscopy, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

18 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Colorectal cancer survivorship program at a single tertiary centre: has service provision changed after COVID-19?Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Jessica HollandDivision of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, 3755 Cote Ste Catherine, Room G-308, Montreal, QC, H3T 1E2, Canada.
Michelle CwintalDivision of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, 3755 Cote Ste Catherine, Room G-308, Montreal, QC, H3T 1E2, Canada.
Georgia RigasDivision of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, 3755 Cote Ste Catherine, Room G-308, Montreal, QC, H3T 1E2, Canada.
Allison J PangDivision of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, 3755 Cote Ste Catherine, Room G-308, Montreal, QC, H3T 1E2, Canada.
Carol-Ann VasilevskyDivision of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, 3755 Cote Ste Catherine, Room G-308, Montreal, QC, H3T 1E2, Canada.
Nancy MorinDivision of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, 3755 Cote Ste Catherine, Room G-308, Montreal, QC, H3T 1E2, Canada.
Gabriela GhitulescuDivision of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, 3755 Cote Ste Catherine, Room G-308, Montreal, QC, H3T 1E2, Canada.
Julio FariaDivision of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, 3755 Cote Ste Catherine, Room G-308, Montreal, QC, H3T 1E2, Canada.
Marylise BoutrosDivision of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, 3755 Cote Ste Catherine, Room G-308, Montreal, QC, H3T 1E2, Canada. marylise.boutros@mcgill.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8006-321X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a partial to total shutdown of endoscopy in many healthcare centers. This study aims to quantify the impact of the reduction in colonoscopies on colorectal cancer (CRC) detection and screening.

methodsAfter institutional ethics board approval, the endoscopy database at an academic tertiary-care center in Montreal, Canada, was searched for all colonoscopies performed from during the first wave locally (March-June 2020), and during the ramp up period where endoscopy service resumed (July to August 2020). We compared these periods to the same periods in 2019, the pre-pandemic periods. The indications, CRC and adenoma detection rates, as well as the prioritization of urgent procedures were compared.

resultsIn the first wave, only 462 colonoscopies were performed, compared to 2515 in the same period in 2019, an 82% reduction. The ramp up period saw 843 colonoscopies performed compared to 1328 in 2019, a 35% reduction. Urgent and inpatient colonoscopies numbers increased (324 (24.8%) vs. 220 (5.7%)) while surveillance and high-risk screening colonoscopies fell (376 (28.8%) vs 1869 (48.6%)). Emergency access to colonoscopy was preserved with a median time to endoscopy of < 1 day (IQR 0,1) in both pandemic periods. During the pandemic periods, there was an absolute reduction in CRC diagnosis of 28, despite the CRC detection per colonoscopy rate increasing slightly in the first wave from 1.7% (44) to 3.9% (18), and in the ramp up period from 2.5% (33) to 3.6% (31). The rate of adenoma detection per colonoscopy did not increase significantly between the pre- and pandemic periods, resulting in reduction in adenoma removal in 723 patients. DISCUSSION: The restriction of access to colonoscopy resulted in a significant reduction in screening and surveillance of high-risk patients, adenomas removed, and CRCs diagnosed. Clinicians and patients will face the oncologic ramifications this the coming years.

Indexed as

AdenomaColorectal NeoplasmsCOVID-19ColonoscopyEarly Detection of CancerHumansPandemicsColonoscopyColorectal cancerCOVID-19 pandemic

Identifiers

PMID35428894
PMCPMC9012515

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.