virginiacolonoscopy.com

What you may not know about colonoscopy and colon cancer (from the perspective of a trained specialist who has performed over 50,000 colonoscopies):

1) colon cancer is THE most preventable cancer and one of the most common causes of cancer death in the US…>

2) 70% or more of deaths from colon cancer (CRC) are completely preventable if people got screening colonoscopy before they developed problem symptoms (bleeding, etc.)…

3) Colonoscopy is safe and completely painless, when done properly.

4) The training and expertise of the doctor performing the colonoscopy has everything to do with the safety, comfort and accuracy of the colonoscopy.

5) Overall, colonoscopy is an extremely safe procedure.  The worst potential complication of a colonoscopy is called a perforation–when the instrument tears the wall of the colon.  Unfortunately, emergency surgery is usually necessary.  Fortunately, this is also the rarest complication during a colonoscopy occurring in less than 1 in 3,000 cases. (In my own practice closer to 1 in 40,000).  Other potential complications are bleeding, if a polyp is removed, and a complication from the sedation.

6) While a complication from a colonoscopy could potentially be very serious, compared to the risk of a person developing a colon cancer, it is minimal.  It is a sobering statistic that 1 in 20 women and 1 in 19 men will develop colon cancer if nothing is done to prevent it.  This a far riskier venture than a 10 minute colonoscopy.

6) Virtually all colonoscopies are done with some form of sedation.  What most people don’t know is that there are (2) kinds of sedation– (1) is called moderate or conscious sedation, where you are kind of ‘half out and half awake’ and the second is true anesthesia, where you are in a sleep state with no appreciation of what is going on.  Here in the Tidewater area, most colonoscopies are done the first way (conscious sedation) rather than anesthesia.  The disadvantage is that some people can’t be adequately sedated this way and have some degree of an unpleasant experience with their colonoscopy.  Also, you are groggy longer after the procedure.  Anesthesia, on the other hand, usually results in better patient comfort and satisfaction, and people wake up more quickly with less side effects (there is no nausea and minimal drowsiness which usually wears off quickly). Studies have also shown that colonoscopies done under anesthesia are more accurate, because the doctor is able to concentrate solely on examining the colon while a nurse anesthetist or anesthesiologist specialist monitors the anesthesia and the patient. Anesthesia has also been shown to have fewer complications.  The disadvantage is that a very few insurance carriers will not cover the cost of a nurse anesthetist or anesthesiologist.  However, the vast majority, (Medicare, Champus, most Blue Cross policies, commercial carriers, etc.) do cover anesthesia.  In our practice, if your insurance doesn’t cover it, there is a relatively modest fee ($86 in most cases) to cover the cost.  Most of our patients who have experienced colonoscopy both ways (conscious sedation vs. anesthesia) say there is no comparison in the experience with anesthesia.

7) The worst part of a colonoscopy is almost always the preparation, where a number of different laxative preps are used to cleanse the colon.  This usually take about 18 hrs and is done the day prior.  Once you are through this, the rest is actually easy!  In my own practice, because we use anesthesia and the patients sleep for the entire procedure, complications are extremely rare, I tell everyone that the colonoscopy is going to be the most fun (believe it or not) since they’ll be completely out and sometimes they have great dreams (I don’t guarantee that one, though).