How often do doctors miss polyps on colonoscopies, and why does this happen?

It is not uncommon for doctors to miss polyps during a colonoscopy.

There are no figures locally on how often this happens but these can be due to three main factors:

1. Poor bowel preparation causing the polyp to be obscured by stools
2. Small polyps behind the corners or folds of the colon, which are not visualized well during the colonoscopy
3. Inexperienced endoscopist

To find out more about getting a colonoscopy in Singapore, you can read my Complete Guide To Colonoscopies In Singapore (2018).