1. What is colonoscopy?

A colonoscopy is a technique in which a flexible tube is inserted through the anus, and the entire large intestine is viewed through a "camera" at the front of the tube. Often, there are also passages inside the colonoscope where instruments can be placed to allow for the removal of tissue for pathologic examination and even removal of lesions under the colonoscope.

2, why do colonoscopy

About 95% of bowel cancer is the evolution of intestinal polyps, colonoscopy can be its easy to find polyps, and can be removed in passing, from the root of the occurrence of bowel cancer.

Enteroscope into the intestine, can clearly observe the entire intestinal lining, as small as 1-2mm things, like millet so big can be seen.

Because the stomach, intestines, esophagus and other such organs are cavity organs, other tests such as ultrasound, CT, etc. can not find polyps and early cancer, only through the gastroenteroscope.

Therefore, colonoscopy is the gold standard for detecting intestinal diseases.

3. What is the need for colonoscopy?

The high incidence of bowel cancer is after 55 years of age, and it takes 5-15 years for a polyp to become cancerous, so we need to do a colonoscopy before the polyp turns bad.

So it's generally recommended to have your first colonoscopy from the age of 40. At this point most are still polyps, or they could be nothing, or they could be early stage cancer.

The following people are recommended to be examined immediately: ("China's Colorectal Cancer Early Diagnosis and Early Treatment Experts*** Knowledge, 2020")

4, there is no need for colonoscopy if there is no discomfort?

No!

At present, colorectal cancer is showing a high incidence trend. For adults without any symptoms, in order to prevent colorectal cancer, it is recommended to do colonoscopy once every 5-10 years starting from the age of 50; for people with high-risk factors, it is necessary to start the examination before the age of 50 and increase the frequency of examination.

These risk factors include:

a history of colorectal cancer or colorectal polyps;

a history of inflammatory bowel disease;

a family history of colorectal cancer or polyps;

a hereditary colorectal cancer syndrome, such as familial adenomatous polyposis or Lynch syndrome.

5. How is colonoscopy done?

During a colonoscopy, the doctor inserts a scope through the anus into the person's large intestine and fills the intestine with air to dilate the bowel so that the structures in the lumen can be clearly seen on a monitor. The entire procedure lasts about 10-30 minutes, and most people can tolerate the test.

6. What is painless colonoscopy?

Ninety percent of people have a colonoscopy that is as painful as diarrhea, and the pain lasts about 2 minutes.

10% of people will be very painful, mostly in too thin, previous abdominal surgery, constipation, these types of people recommend intravenous anesthetic to sleep on the finish, that is, painless colonoscopy.

The colonoscopy performed under anesthesia is painless colonoscopy. The examination will be intravenous drip some central nervous system inhibition of anesthesia drugs, improve tolerance, reduce the stress response, thereby eliminating the sense of fear and discomfort, so that the endoscopic examination and treatment operations can be carried out smoothly, so that you are awake, pain-free state to complete the entire examination process.

But painless colonoscopy also has some shortcomings, one is the cost is higher than ordinary colonoscopy, another is the appointment time is longer, and because the use of anesthesia drugs also have some contraindications, such as liver failure, serious respiratory and circulatory diseases, or very poor physical condition of the patient, these cases are not suitable for painless colonoscopy.

7. Is it dangerous to do colonoscopy? Can a painless colonoscopy make a person stupid?

Colonoscopy is very safe, the process may be due to inflate the intestinal lumen, you may feel discomfort or abdominal cramps pain, but as long as the gas is discharged after doing so, this discomfort can be relieved soon. Of course, there can be complications, such as bleeding or perforation, but these are rare.

It doesn't make you stupid.

The intravenous anesthetic used for painless gastroenteroscopy is usually propofol, a milky white liquid. The dosage used, which is set by the anesthesiologist based on the subject's weight, physical fitness, and other elements of the drug, is generally controlled so that the subject wakes up in about 10 minutes. It is metabolized very quickly and will be broken down and metabolized within a few hours, causing no accumulation and no after-effects. There are too many studies that have confirmed that painless gastroenteroscopy has no effect on IQ.

8. You have to take off your pants for a colonoscopy!

Enteroscopy are in a very private room, the patient's privacy is very important, there will be no other patients present at the time of the examination, the examination of the doctor and nurses are very few, there will be no onlookers!

9. What do I need to prepare for a colonoscopy?

Because the doctor wants to observe the inside of the intestines through the colonoscope, so that there must be a clean intestines, are stools can not be seen clearly, so before the examination must be done to prepare the intestines . Patients with constipation, eat a semi-liquid diet (white porridge, soft noodles, etc.) and abstain from fiber foods (greens, fruits) for two days prior to the exam.

If you have an appointment for a morning exam, fast or eat a clear liquid diet (such as broth, sugar water, no milk, soy milk, thick soup, etc.) the day before the exam, and then take a bowel cleansing agent at 6-7 p.m. The best thing to do is to pass watery stools, and if there is still fecal matter in the stools, then you need to continue to drink water. Because you will be going to the bathroom frequently, try to stay in a place where it is more convenient to go to the bathroom! If you have an appointment in the afternoon, you should fast on the day of the test and take a bowel cleanser in the morning. If you do not have a complete bowel cleansing, you can have a cleansing enema or colon hydrotherapy 1-2 hours before the test. A bowel movement is required before entering the examination room. For painless colonoscopy under anesthesia, it is necessary to abstain from food and drink for more than 6 hours before the examination. For the morning procedure, the fasting starts at 00:00 on the day of the procedure, and for the afternoon procedure, the fasting starts at 9:00 a.m. on the day of the procedure.

10. What should I do after the test?

At the beginning of the examination, you may feel bloated and uncomfortable due to the accumulation of air in the colon, you can go to the toilet to ventilate, and the symptoms will gradually disappear after a few hours. If you have persistent abdominal pain, or if you have a lot of blood in your stool, please notify your healthcare provider immediately. Do not drive or work at heights on the day of the colonoscopy. If you are having a simple examination, you may eat a low-fat diet one hour after the examination; if you are having treatment, you may decide to eat a low-fat diet depending on the treatment.

11. What should I do if I find an abnormality on colonoscopy?

If a polyp is found on colonoscopy, the doctor may remove it during the examination. If the polyp is very large, or if a tumor or other suspicious lesion is found, the doctor will do a biopsy, take some or all of the lesion tissue and send it to the laboratory, and the pathology department will send out a report in about 3-5 working days, telling us what the lesion is, whether it is benign or malignant, cancerous or precancerous.