TU2.11 Adherence to post-polypectomy surveillance guidelines in a district general hospital

Abstract

Abstract Aims National guidelines instruct clinical decision making around post-polypectomy surveillance. The current polyp surveillance guidelines were jointly published by the British Society of Gastroenterologists (BSG), the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland (ACPGBI) and Public Health England (PHE) in 2019, updating the 2010 surveillance guidelines. Adherence to polyp surveillance guidelines is historically poor, both in the UK and globally. This audit set out to establish the adherence rate of clinicians to the 2019 polyp surveillance guidelines in a district general hospital and to compare this to the adherence rate to the 2010 surveillance guidelines. Methods We aimed to collect 300 patients who had been treated under the 2010 or 2019 polyp surveillance guidelines. After exclusion criteria were applied we collected 152 and 133 patients who had respectively been treated under the 2010 and 2019 guidelines. Each patient record was analysed and it was determined by our team whether the chosen polyp surveillance was adherent to the respective guidelines or not. Results Of 152 patients treated under the 2010 guidelines, 41.4% (63) of patients were adherent. Of 133 patients treated under the 2019 guidelines, 66.2% (88) of patients were adherent. This represents a score difference of 24.7% (95% confidence interval of 13.5% to 35.9%, p<0.0001). Conclusions Our results show that following the introduction of the 2019 guidelines, adherence to polyp surveillance guidelines increased. Increased adherence to guidelines has significant implications for improving patient safety, financial savings and protecting endoscopy capacity.