What To Expect On Diagnosing Colon Cancer
Usually, the first symptoms of colon cancer appear once it’s too late and colon cancer patients are already into Stage III, where the survival rate is down to about 40%. Yet, if caught early, this deadly disease is 93 to 100% curable. Each year, 49,920 Americans die of metastatic colon cancer that has migrated throughout their bodies into other organs. In the beginning, a virtual colonoscopy can find the tiniest abnormalities, like non-cancerous colon polyps, that can be easily removed with a colonoscope or minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery.
To prepare for a virtual colonoscopy, you will need to complete a bowel prep, just like with a normal colonoscopy prep. You will need to empty all solid waste materials from your gastrointestinal tract by sticking to a clear liquid diet for 1 to 3 days before the procedure. This means you may only consume fat-free broth, strained fruit juice, water, coffee, tea, Gatorade and Jell-O. The night before your colonoscopy screening, you will take a laxative (in pill or powder format) to loosen your stools and increase the frequency of your bowel movement until everything has been cleared from your system. Just before the exam, you’ll drink a contrast liquid, which will make your large intestine appear very bright during the scan so abnormal cells will stand out better.
The main difference between a traditional colonoscopy procedure and a virtual colonoscopy is how the doctor sees into the colon. During a regular colonoscopy, a long, lighted, flexible colonoscope with an affixed camera is sent into the anus, rectum and entire large intestine. However, with the virtual method, a thin plastic tube is inserted into the anus and rectum, puffs up the large intestine with air and uses a CT or MRI machine to scan the entire colon, less invasively. Unlike a conventional colonoscopy, the patient does not need to be sedated. Many elderly patients, people with inflamed intestines or frail individuals prefer this method to the traditional screening tests because it’s less stressful on the body, not to mention it’s more cost-effective as well.
There are several cons to getting a virtual colonoscopy. For one, you will still need to go through the same bowel prep and liquid dieting. Secondly, you will still need something inserted into you (albeit, not as deep) to complete the test. Thirdly, it may be difficult to find a place to have this test done in your area. Additionally, not every insurance company (for instance, Medicare) will cover it. There are small risks involved too. Inflating the colon with air could possibly perforate the bowel (which has happened in less than 1/2,000 cases). There is also a small cancer risk from radiation exposure, although the dose is just 5 mSv, which is about 20 months’ worth of what a person normally receives in radiation from everyday life. Also, these scans are unsafe for pregnant women and may not be advised for obese individuals. If colon polyps need to be removed, a traditional colonoscopy will need to be performed after all.
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