Muhammad Ali Butt<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Butt and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study with data from TriNetX, a national, federated electronic health network that serves 67 health systems.<\/p>\n
The study followed two groups of adults, a pre-AI cohort who had colonoscopies between 2015 and 2019 and an AI-era cohort who underwent the procedure between 2022 and 2025.<\/p>\n
Mean age of the pre-AI cohort was 60 years and 54.3% of patients were women, similar to the AI-era cohort, which had a mean age of 61 years and 54.1% women.<\/p>\n
Researchers assessed ADR within 30 days of colonoscopy and defined interval CRC as a diagnosis 6 to 36 months after the procedure.<\/p>\n
The 30-day analysis included 1,514,867 patients from each cohort. Adenomas were detected in 3.6% of patients in the AI-era cohort, compared with 1.8% of patients in the pre-AI cohort (P <\/i>< .001).<\/p>\n
Advanced adenomas were caught in 0.19% of patients in the AI cohort and 0.13% of those in the pre-AI cohort (P <\/i>< .001).<\/p>\n
During the 6 to 36 months following colonoscopy, interval CRC incidence declined from 0.21% in the pre-AI cohort to 0.11% in the AI-era cohort (RR = 0.53, P <\/i>< .001).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw a roughly 47% relative reduction in interval CRC in the AI era compared to the pre-AI period,\u201d Butt said. \u201cThat\u2019s a hard outcome to move. These are cancers that slip through after a scope that was supposed to be negative, so a signal that size in real-world data was notable.\u201d<\/p>\n
While results provide evidence supporting the clinical benefits of AI-assisted colonoscopies, Butt said \u201cthe caveat is that this is an observational study with the limitations that come with that, and I wouldn\u2019t want anyone walking away thinking this definitively proves AI is driving the improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Further research is necessary to determine AI\u2019s contribution to improved colonoscopy outcomes relative to other recent changes to procedural guidelines, quality improvement initiatives and greater awareness of ADR benchmarks.<\/p>\n
For more information:<\/h2>\n Muhammad Ali Butt<\/b>, MD,<\/b> can be reached at gastroenterology@healio.com.<\/p>\n\n
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Sources\/Disclosures<\/h3>\n Source: <\/h2>\n Butt MA, et al. Real-world impact of the AI colonoscopy era on adenoma detection and interval colorectal cancer: A national propensity-matched study. Presented at: Digestive Disease Week; May 2-5, 2026; Chicago.<\/p>\n
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