The Procedure
The procedure called the colonoscopy is where the inside of your colon is evaluated by a gastroenterologist. To do this, the colon must be empty and clean and a tube that is flexible and about the width of a finger, will be inserted into the anus. It will then go slowly, with visual control, into the rectum and through the colon. This visual part is done by either viewing on a monitor or looking through the instrument. The colonoscopy procedure is usually preformed to investigate the reason for blood in the stool, because of diarrhea, pain in the abdomen or because a CT scan or x-ray found an abnormality in the colon. For those who have had colon cancer or polyps, they are at a greater risk for colon problems so they will have this done periodically.
For this procedure to be accurate, the colon must be empty and completely clean. To achieve this condition, patients will take days to prepare. There will be days of a liquid diet and laxatives given by the doctor. If this person does not follow the doctor’s directions to the letter, the procedure will not be successful and it must all be repeated. There are some medications that must be stopped one weed before the procedure as they will cause complications. Any type of medications that thins the blood or has iron in it cannot be taken the week prior. This will include products like Alka-Seltzer, Motrin, Excedrin, Pepto-Bismol, Advil and Aleve. Also, nothing that is red can be eaten either. This included kool-aid, jello or Popsicles that are red. Arthritis medications and insulin also must be stopped. Other foods that must be avoided a few days before is foods with seeds or stringy foods.
After the procedure you will be observed for a few hours as the medication that was given as a sedative has worn off. You will not be able to drive so you will already have someone there to take you home. Once you get home, you can eat again but might have some bloating that will clear up. If you had polyps removed from your colon during this procedure, then you might be limited as to what you can eat the next few days. Complication with this procedure are rare and if there are any they will be minor. If a biopsy was taken there might be some bleeding.
