Background: Endoscopic resection of large colorectal lesions is associated with high complication rates.
Objective: To evaluate the effect of prophylactic clip closure of polypectomy sites after resection of large (≥2 cm) sessile and flat colorectal lesions.
Design: Retrospective study.
Setting: Tertiary referral center.
Patients and interventions: Patients with lesions 2 cm or larger who underwent EMR performed by using low-power coagulation current between January 2000 and February 2012. Beginning in June 2006, polypectomy sites were prophylactically closed with clips when possible. Patients had telephone follow-up at 30 days or later to track complications.
Main outcome measurements: Delayed hemorrhage, postpolypectomy syndrome, and perforation.
Results: There were 524 lesions 2 cm or larger in 463 patients, of which 247 (47.1%) were not clipped, 52 (9.9%) were partially clipped, and 225 (42.9%) were fully clipped. There were 31 delayed hemorrhages, 2 perforations, and 6 cases of postpolypectomy syndrome. The delayed hemorrhage rate was 9.7% in the not clipped group versus 1.8% in the fully clipped group. Multivariate analysis showed that not clipping (odds ratio [OR] 6.0; 95% CI, 2.0-18.5), location proximal to the splenic flexure (OR 2.9; 95% CI, 1.05-8.1), and polyp size (OR 1.3; 95% CI, 1.1-1.7 for each 10-mm increase in size) were associated with delayed bleeding.
Limitation: Retrospective design.
Conclusions: Prophylactic clipping of resection sites after endoscopic removal of large (≥2 cm) colorectal lesions using low-power coagulation current reduced the risk of delayed postpolypectomy hemorrhage. A randomized, prospective trial of clipping large polypectomy sites is warranted.
Copyright © 2013 American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.