Waiting Times for Colonoscopy: A 10 years-long review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54103/2282-0930/29674Keywords:
colonoscopy, waiting time, review, colorectal cancer, screeningAbstract
INTRODUCTION Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths and a timely detection and removal of colon adenomas via colonoscopy prevents colon cancer. Colonoscopy is regarded as the gold standard tool for screening, prevention, and diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC)
OBJECTIVE The aim of our study was to do a narrative review of the literature about the waiting times for colonoscopy in order to have an overview of this topic and analyze factors that could influence these times.
METHODS In April - May 2025, we performed a search for original peer-reviewed papers in the electronic database PubMed (MED LINE). Studies were selected in a multiple-stages process and analyzed on the basis of the inclusion criteria.
CONCLUSIONS The literature search yielded 158 publications published in 2015-2025, but 9 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Waiting times for colonoscopy didn’t change over the time and fluctuation generally were due to external factors (such as COVID-19 pandemic, availability of health insurance). Patients who were taken charge by specialists or included in specific pathways reported shorter waiting times. These times should be carefully monitored because could be associated with worse outcomes.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Gianmarco Troiano, Roberto Gusinu, Katia Belvedere, Camilla Soldo, Daniela Matarrese, Giacomo Lazzeri
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Accepted 2026-04-08
Published 2026-05-06
