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Virtual colonoscopy as good as the real thing?

Summary: The best news is that, if your first colonoscopy was clean, you really don't need to go back for five full years.

Dana Blankenhorn

By Dana Blankenhorn for ZDNet Healthcare |

Virtual Colonoscopy from Associated Radiologists of New JerseySort of. If we're talking about the re-test, and your first one came up negative.

A virtual colonoscopy replaces an operation and a scope up your butt with x-rays and other imaging.

But you still need the same preparation you do for the real thing (an empty colon is a visible colon), and that's really 90% of the hassle.

I had my first colonoscopy 2 years ago and it was really no big deal. There was some stomach pain the day before, when I had to empty my digestive tract. But the procedure itself was easy -- they knocked me out and I was back at work that afternoon.

Since then, of course, Aetna and other insurers have decided to stop covering the drugs needed to make this painless, so for my next trip I'm likely to prefer the virtual tour.

In the study published at the New England Journal of Medicine today, 90% of adenomas and cancers were found in virtual screenings of over 2,500 patients.

Thus, if your first screening was negative, the new view is that the virtual screening is just as good the second time around.

The big difference is that the hands-on screening, by a gastroenterologist armed with an endoscope, is more accurate, but the virtual screening, done through a radiologist, costs less and takes less time.

The best news is that, if your first colonoscopy was clean, you really don't need to go back for five full years.

So I've got my calendar marked for 2011. And if you've still got fears about colonoscopy, just think of it as a 50th birthday present you give to yourself.

If you want to see a virtual colonoscopy, Associated Radiologists of New Jersey is offering a demo on their site. That picture comes from them.

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15 comments
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  • colonoscopy

    Just to be clear about when to repeat a screening colonoscopy: If you have had a normal colonoscopy without polyps, and you do not have a family history of colon cancer (first degree relative), the recommendation to for the next colonoscopy is ten years (not five years). This is the recommendation of the American Gastroenterology Assoc, American College of Gastroenterology, etc.
    mcdonnell56
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Virtual colonoscopy as good as the real thing?

    Just to be clear about when to repeat a screening colonoscopy: If you have had a normal colonoscopy without polyps, and you do not have a family history of colon cancer (first degree relative), the recommendation to for the next colonoscopy is ten years (not five years). This is the recommendation of the American Gastroenterology Assoc, American College of Gastroenterology, etc.
    mcdonnell56
    Reply Vote

    • I had two benign ones...

      So I'm going in again. But the doc's not worried. No
      history of the disease in the family
      DanaBlankenhorn
      Reply Vote

  • Try Capsule Endoscopy

    Same prep, but Given Imaging (www.givenimaging.com) has a pillcam Colon that creates a video of your intestinal tract - Unfortunately, the Pillcam colon is not approved for use in the US, but is in Canada.

    Ludo
    Ludovit
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Virtual colonoscopy as good as the real thing?

    No fun either way but regular or virtual are okay with me.

    The real problem, for me at least, is drinking the prep. Who can stand the taste of the bowel prep you have to take?

    Too bad some of the pharmaceutical companies don't make the prep in capsule form; even if one had to take a dozen [or more] capsules, it would be preferable to gagging down the existing liquid.
    shineon4me
    Reply Vote

    • I have heard of some doing that

      I forget the brand, but I had a friend whose doctor
      gave her pills before this procedure. Mine gave me
      something he said tasted like cherries...uh, no.

      Just pretend it's a Scotch after a funeral. Knock it
      back.
      DanaBlankenhorn
      Reply Vote

    • I had the pills

      for mine in August - better than drinking
      the liquid, but (as I recall) something like
      32 pills in half a day.

      The procedures were also a bit rougher
      this time (I got it at both ends) as I was in
      the group that withholds that one
      important drug - think it's called Versaid
      (sp/). Next time I'll pay out of pocket to
      get it!
      Ken_z
      Reply Vote

    • Clear liquids.

      A coworker had a colonoscopy done last year. After a Q&A session with his doctor, it turns out that Coors light meets the definition of 'clear liquid.' Sure, it's Coors light, but at least you can have a beer or two the night before.
      Letophoro
      Reply Vote

    • MiraLAX prep

      When I had my colonoscopy I drank a mixture of Gatorade and MiraLAX as my liquid prep. It didn't taste any different than straight Gatorade.
      GregEB
      Reply Vote

      • I hear that...

        ...Miralax and Gatorade is a good mix myself, granted that's from our 2 year old who at 6 or 8 months old had Rotavirus, and ever since then until several months ago we've been having revolutions of constipation and extremely loose stools. Doc said to do the Miralax thing, and since our son is so incredibly picky, getting him to drink anything that tastes even slightly off is next to impossible. Finally getting ahold of the M&G mix, that was the key to making it all go down so well. I can't imagine what he'd do with that other stuff... Yikes!
        zach.winchester
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Virtual colonoscopy as good as the real thing?

    There is one important factor - colonoscopies are dangerous procedures - people die from getting perforated by the procedure - look at the stats...the virtual is much safer procedure!!
    boates
    Reply Vote

    • reply to boates

      Although what boates saids is true the actual risk of perforation is very low in good hands. If a perforation does occur, it is usually fixed with no long term complications. Boates also fails to mention the radiation associated with virtual colonsocopy that adds up and can cause cancers in the long run.
      woods3
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Virtual colonoscopy as good as the real thing?

    Safer, maybe but accurate may be a main concern. Even though I am a geek, I am not usre that I want to risk them missing a cancer red light because the software glitched. True, no invaviseprocedure is without risk but to be cleared erroneously and then find out 5 years later it was wrong and now it is too late to be cured is more of a risk to me.
    TX Old Sarge
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Virtual colonoscopy as good as the real thing?

    I had the Virtual colonoscopy in May 2008 and it is
    approved and covered by insurance in the USA.
    lesgreen
    Reply Vote

  • Regrettably, Virtual Colonoscopy is Not as Good

    Virtual colonoscopy cannot visualize polyps smaller than 1 cm, offers no opportunity for biopsy of polyps, and exposes the patient to a dose of radiation about 50x to 100x that of a chest x-ray.

    Virtual colonoscopy is preferred by the radiologists, since they get paid to interpret it. It has become oddly popular in the UK, for reasons I do not understand. But it is not as safe or as good as the "real thing."
    trentreviso
    Reply Vote
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