Colonoscopy is the most commonly performed gastrointestinal procedure, with more than 14 million colonoscopies performed in the United States each year. Colonoscopies are performed as a screening for cancer, surveillance and diagnostic to evaluate symptoms.

Patients are advised to seek a well-trained endoscopist who maintains an adequate case volume to maintain procedural skills (more than 300 procedures per year) and has a record of performing a complete examination of the colon.

Quality indicators or benchmarks have been developed to establish competence in performing colonoscopy and help define areas for continuous quality improvement.

Average Withdrawal Time:
The cecal withdrawal time is the time it takes for a doctor to carefully pull back the colonoscope (the camera used during a colonoscopy) from the cecum (the first part of the large intestine) to the end of the colon. This time is important because:

  1. It allows doctors to thoroughly examine the colon walls for any abnormalities like polyps or lesions that could be early signs of cancer. The slower and more careful the withdrawal, the more likely they are to spot potential problems.
  2. Research has shown that doctors who take at least 6 minutes for withdrawal tend to find more polyps than those who withdraw more quickly.

Below is the average withdrawal time for our physicians compared to the 2024 National Goal of 6 minutes.

Adenoma Detection Rate:
Adenoma detection rate, or ADR, is considered to be the most important quality indicator for a gastroenterologist; it calculates the percentage of time that at least one adenoma is detected during a colonoscopy. In fact, for every 1% increase in ADR, colorectal cancer rates decrease by 3% and morbidity decreases by 5%. The graph below shows the performance of our physicians exceeding the 2024 National ADR Goal of 25%.