Longer Examination Time Improves Detection of Gastric Cancer During Diagnostic Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

Abstract

BACKGROUND & AIMS: It is not clear how the duration of upper endoscopy affects the detection of cancer or premalignant lesions that increase the risk for gastric cancer. We investigated whether the length of time spent performing esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) affects the detection of important pathologic features of the stomach. METHODS: We collected data from 837 symptomatic patients, during a 3-month period in 2010, who underwent a first diagnostic EGD at a tertiary university hospital in Singapore. Endoscopists were classified as fast or slow based on the mean amount of time it took them to perform a normal EGD examination. We used logistic regression to compare between groups the numb..