Endoscopic Colon Surveillance.

Unlike screening, which is defined as the identification of unrecognized or asymptomatic disease in an average-risk population, endoscopic surveillance for colorectal cancer (CRC) is based on the premise that repeated evaluation of a high-risk population will identify patients either with cancer at an earlier, treatable stage, or those who are likely to develop cancer. The purpose of this chapter is to present the recommendations for endoscopic surveillance after colonoscopic polypectomy, CRC resection, and in the setting of inflammatory bowel disease, and to discuss the evidence on which these recommendations are based. Surveillance of these conditions in the setting of an inherited or familial CRC syndrome are not discussed here, but are reviewed in Chapter 18. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]