Background: Studies have confirmed an increased risk of colorectal cancer in patients with ulcerative colitis; hence, surveillance is recommended. Optional modalities include white light endoscopy (WLE) or dye-spray chromoendoscopy. However, narrow-band imaging (NBI) is still not considered comparable to chromoendoscopy.

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic yield (DY) of WLE, chromoendoscopy, NBI for detection of neoplasia in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) by performing a meta-analysis of the existing literature.

Methods: We searched databases for prospective studies. For each modality, we performed comparative per-lesion analysis (any neoplasia detection) and per-patient analysis (patient with neoplastic lesions). Meta-analysis was performed using fixed-effect model unless heterogeneity was high. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% CIs were calculated and pooled.

Results: Five studies compared chromoendoscopy to WLE. Chromoendoscopy (n = 361) was superior to WLE (n = 358) with per-patient analysis OR 2.05 (95% CI 1.26, 3.35) and per-lesion analysis OR 2.79 (95% CI 2.08, 3.73). High-definition (HD) chromoendoscopy was superior to HD-WLE with per-lesion analysis OR 2.48 (95% CI 1.55, 3.97). In four studies comparing NBI to WLE (n = 305), no difference was found in per-patient analysis OR 0.97 (95% CI 0.62, 1.53) and per-lesion analysis OR 0.94 (95% CI 0.63, 1.4). In two studies comparing CE to NBI (n = 104), no difference was found in per-patient analysis OR 1.0 (95% CI 0.51, 1.95) and per-lesion analysis OR 1.29 (95% CI 0.69, 2.41).

Conclusion: Chromoendoscopy is superior to WLE for detection of dysplasia in IBD, even with HD endoscopy. No difference in DY could be demonstrated for NBI in comparison with other modalities.

Keywords: Chromoendoscopy; Diagnostic tests; Inflammatory bowel disease; Meta-analyses; Ulcerative colitis.