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How safe is a colonoscopy?

Posted , 13 users are following.

Noct10
Noct10

I've heard so many conflicting things about a colonoscopy and i'm not sure what to think of it. 

1 like, 25 replies

25 Replies

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  • patty02379
    patty02379 Noct10

    Posted

    It's a good idea to get prescreened now there saying too get done in your 40's instead of turning 50 if I would have waited longer I.would have gotten colon cancer cause they found a 5 cm.polyp in my colon there is nothing too getting a colonoscopy the worst part is the prep drinking the stuff when you go.in for your colonoscopy your put too sleep. I.would get it done the only person in my family who had colon cancer was my dad's half sister and that still counts also. I have done the prep 3 times I was scared and I had nurses who talked me threw it and the fear went out the door and it only took 20 minutes for me they had too send me to colon surgeon however and have half of my colon removed and that was robotic surgery the fastest recover for that I went home the next day.. I recommend getting a colonoscopy of your having constipation and or diarrhea or black tarry stools or blood you better get that checked.

  • paul75665
    paul75665 Noct10

    Posted

    There will be varying views on colonoscopies, personally I don’t mind the colonoscopy itself, it’s the bowel preparation I hate, it really messes me up and leaves me feeling drained and weak.

    However, you want to know how safe a colonoscopy is, not what it’s like. Every procedure carries a risk, but colonoscopies are performed routinely as they’re renowned for being very safe, with a very low risk of complication. I say this to everyone asking this question, but people are more then willing to share negative experiences of colonoscopies, it’s in our nature to inform the world of something bad, however, it is estimated that 520,000 colonoscopies are performed every year in the UK and up to 15 million in the US, and the few recorded bad experiences amount to an extremely low percentage of the total amount of colonoscopies done, meaning there must be millions done that have all had good experiences.

    From my personal experience, watching the way the doctor was moving the scope around in me during my last colonoscopy, it made me realise actually how tough we really are inside, we are built to be quite strong and resilient.

  • dimmy
    dimmy Noct10

    Posted

    Do not listen to Sonne`s reply!! ..to say it is barbaric and invasive is ridiculous!!!. If i hadn`t had a 30 minute colonoscopy i would have died years ago!!!!. There is a tiny risk of bowel perforation during a colonoscopy (which may require repair surgery). In 2004 the risk was one in 600. In 2018 i was told by a senior consultant the risk was now one in 8000..due to advancements in the procedure. Actually the consultant said he had never even herd of a perforation in his time as a doctor!! IF there are any small benign polyps in your bowel these can be removed during the colonoscopy easily. This would save you a hell of a lot of trouble later in life as polyp often turn cancerous after a number of years..then you would require major surgery and probably chemotherapy. I have never felt pain during a colonoscopy (had about 6 of them)...just pressure..always have the concsious sedation. The 2 days prep beforehand is the worst thing about a colonoscopy...restricted diet and laxatives to cleanse the bowel. In summary ..a 2 day prep ...a 30 minute colonoscopy as opposed to getting bowel cancer later in life and possible death...NO CONTEST!!!!. regards
    • dimmy
      dimmy Sonne

      Posted

      Please see my reply to Raffie...a traditional colonoscopy is the ultimate preferred inspection procedure for bowel disease. MRI etc can miss tiny polyp where as a traditional colonoscopy will not!!! (depending on the expertise of the Doctor).
    • paul75665
      paul75665 Sonne

      Posted

      I'd say it's life saving, and I'm sure there are people that have had their life saved because of it that would say the same. Yes it's not nice to have a tube put up your backside, but I'd rather that than deal with the possible consequences of not having one. Why do doctors recommend them? Because they are a proven way to get definitive results and diagnosis' for certain bowel complications that could easily be missed with other investigation methods. And as was said before, if the other methods finds something suspect, then a colonoscopy would need to be done anyway. I've had two in recent years, the first I fell asleep for and the second was awake all the way through. It was uncomfortable, but found it very interesting looking at my insides on the screen, and with the sedation I never gave any consideration to possible complications, not even when I saw them take the biopsies. It was certainly a lot more pleasant than the bowel preparation.

      Would you not have one if it was a life or death situation?? I know what I'd do without hesitation.

    • Sonne
      Sonne paul75665

      Posted

      Paul  it would take me half a heart beat to tell them no. 
    • dimmy
      dimmy Sonne

      Posted

      Let me think....Hmmmm?...either a 30 minute colonoscopy OR eternity 6 feet under!!
    • paul75665
      paul75665 Sonne

      Posted

      Blimey, you’d rather run that risk for not letting doctors put a tube up somewhere where something four times the size of the tube comes out of! You’re either very brave or you have no appreciation for life. Do you feel the same about Endoscopies?
    • dimmy
      dimmy paul75665

      Posted

      I think were wasting our breath Paul...just leave it if i was you!..regards!
    • paul75665
      paul75665 dimmy

      Posted

      I think you are right, to me it sounds like someone might have quite a severe case of homophobia, if you can call doctors that perform colonoscopies ‘pervs’ then there are certainly some issue going on there!
    • paul75665
      paul75665 Sonne

      Posted

      Someone needs to realise they are living in the 21st century, and try to chill out a bit.rolleyes

      People look for help, support and encouragement on this site to get them through investigations and procedures they are unsure of. I think deterring people from procedures that could end up saving their lives is wrong, just because you feel and think the health care professionals performing the procedures are all perverts. I know I’m thankful to the ‘pervert’ that found and removed three polyps in my colon that could easily have turned cancerous.

    • Tucsonjj
      Tucsonjj paul75665

      Posted

      Hi, Paul, I just had a Cologuard test come back positive... so I really have no choice in getting a colonoscopy... right?

      I am also having two CT scans done soon... abdominal and pelvic.... I wonder if they will be of any use to determine if I have any serious colon issues?

      The CT's are being done due to some strange abdominal distension, 22lb weigh loss in 4 months... also some long term urological problems got worse around the same time...

      Thoughts?

      PS: Ignore Sonne... he seems like a very disturbed young fool.

    • Tucsonjj
      Tucsonjj Sonne

      Posted

      You sad fool, an endoscopy doesn't reach the colon... why not be quiet and try to learn from others?

  • raffie
    raffie Noct10

    Posted

    Hello.

    There are alternatives to the traditional colonoscopy. There's am MRI & CT colonoscopy. There's also the FIT test using a stool sample. The only thing about these methods is if something is detected, they are going to ask you to get the traditional colonoscopy.

    For the most part, people don't like the test because of the prep.

    To encourage more people to get tested a company called Salix Pharmaceuticals has developed a new prep solution that uses only one liter of bowel prep instead of two therefore making the prep more tolerable.

    It should be available in the US by third quarter 2018.

    Regards,

    Raffie

    • dimmy
      dimmy raffie

      Posted

      Hi

      The problem with an MRI or a virtual ct colonoscopy is that these detect only foreign bodies i.e polyps approx pea size or above. With a traditional colonoscopy polyps etc can be detected and removed that are tiny..grain of rice size..that an MRI or CT colonoscopy could miss. There is also a procedure where a camera is in a pill that you swallow and it slowly works it way through your digestive system so no scope is inserted inside you...the pictures are relayed onto a monitor...BUT you still have to prep your bowel for the 2 days beforehand. They can put a man on the moon, send a spaceship to Mars but they can`t invent a prep that tastes nice!...regards

    • raffie
      raffie dimmy

      Posted

      Hi:

      Hopefully Plenvu will make bowel prep easier. You use half of what you're using now.

      The other things the medical community could do to make the test more tolerable for the patient is;

      1. Use water instead of air to inflate the colon.

      2. Train people and only use the pediatric scope for colonoscopies. It's smaller & tolerated better        especially around the turns.

      They don't think too much about patient comfort for this test because here in the states they want money so most places knock you out to drive up the cost.

      Regards,

      Raffie

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