Hood colonoscopy in trainees: a useful adjunct to improve the performance.

Background: The use of a transparent hood to improve colonoscopic performance has recently been proposed.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether using the hood might improve the cecal intubation rate, cecal intubation time, number of attempts needed to intubate the ileo-cecal valve, and polyp detection rate in trainees.

Methods: Patients undergoing colonoscopy (n = 378) were randomized in two groups, one studied with hood colonoscopy (n = 179) and the other (n = 199) with standard examination.

Results: No differences were found between hood and standard colonoscopy with respect to cecal intubation rate (95 vs 92 %), whereas hood colonoscopy significantly shortened the cecal intubation time, the number of attempts needed to intubate the ileo-cecal valve, and the overall polyp detection rate (p < 0.01 for all these variables).

Conclusions: Hood colonoscopy might represent a useful adjunct to standard colonoscopy, especially improving the performance of endoscopic trainees.