Impact of an Endoscopic Quality Improvement Program Focused on Adenoma Detection on Sessile Serrated Adenoma/Polyp Detection

Background: Sessile serrated adenomas/polyps (SSA/P) are an under-recognized disease with a unique malignant pathway. Improved endoscopic recognition and pathological interpretation is needed. Aims: To determine whether an educational intervention that improved adenoma detection rate (ADR) could improve SSA/P detection rate after reclassification of previously termed “hyperplastic” polyps. Methods: We reanalyzed data from a prospective randomized trial of an educational intervention aimed at increasing ADR. All hyperplastic polyps ≥6 mm reported in a previously published study were rereviewed and reclassified using standardized criteria for serrated lesions. Detection rates of sessile serrated adenomas/polyps and other clinically relevant serrated polyps were calculated in the baseline and post-training phases of the original study. Results: Of 263 available for rereview, 33 (12.5%) were reclassified as SSA/P (N = 32) or traditional serrated adenoma (TSA) (N = 1). Reclassification was more common in the right colon (18 vs. 8%, p = 0.02). Baseline SSA/P detection rate was 0.7% in the untrained group and 1.3% in the trained group. Post-training, the SSA/P detection rate increased to 2.1 and 1.5%, respectively. The clinically relevant serrated polyp detection rate at baseline was 14.2% in the untrained group and 11.3% in the trained group. After the educational intervention, the clinically relevant serrated polyp detection rates increased to 16.5 and 14.8% in the untrained and trained groups, respectively. The estimated odds of an endoscopist detecting either a SSA/P or other clinically relevant serrated polyp during colonoscopy increased by only 3% with the educational intervention (OR 1.03, 95% CI 0.61–1.74, p = 0.91). Conclusions: Pathological re-interpretation of larger serrated polyps resulted in the reclassification of 12.5% of lesions. Quality improvement methods focused on adenoma detection did not impact SSA/P detection, and thus specific methods for serrated polyp detection are needed.