The Value of Polyp Surface Pattern Recognition in the Identification of Neoplasia: a Prospective Study

It is current practice to remove any polyps found during colonoscopy. This is because adenomatous polyps have the potential to turn into cancer. However, a proportion of polyps \<10mm in size are hyperplastic, which cannot turn into cancer. Current practice requires these to be removed, as it is traditionally felt that they cannot be separated clinically from adenomas. This increases the risk of perforation and results in a significant cost in processing the samples. However, it has been suggested that it is possible to differentiate neoplastic from non neoplastic lesions using skills in polyp surface pattern recognition. If this is the case the investigators may be able to reduce the need for polypectomy The investigators believe that it is possible to tell the difference between polyps with cancerous potential and those that are harmless by assessment of surface patterns. This may enable us to improve the investigators clinical decisions when assessing polyps during colonoscopy, and reduce the number of unnecessary polypectomys being performed.