Treatment of diminutive mucosal lesions of the terminal colon by nurse endoscopists.

The efficiency of a supervised nurse endoscopist having been established, the role of nurse endoscopists has been extended to the treatment of diminutive colonic mucosal lesions. One nurse endoscopist, under supervision by a physician mentor, has carried out more than 6,000 sigmoidoscopies in a recent 1-year period and has fulgurated one or more diminutive polyps in almost 500 patients. Larger lesions detected by the nurse endoscopist were treated by the physician.