If your colonoscopy results list a positive finding, this means your doctor spotted a polyp or other abnormality in the colon. This is very common, and not a reason to panic. Most polyps are harmless, and your doctor probably removed it during the colonoscopy. Some polyps, however, can be cancerous or precancerous.
Positive Result
A positive colonoscopy result indicates that your gastroenterologist found polyps or abnormal tissue that may indicate a cancer or a precancerous lesion. If polyps are found in the colon, your doctor will remove them and send them to a laboratory for additional testing.
Colonoscopy, which can detect 95% of large polyps. Stool DNA (Cologuard test), which can only detect 42% of large polyps. Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT), which can only detect 24% of large polyps.
Care begins with cancer staging
During a colonoscopy, your doctor will remove polyps, abnormal growths in the colon that can become cancerous. If biopsy results show cancer, the next step would be imaging tests for diagnosing cancer. Imaging tests check whether the cancer has spread to any organ or lymph nodes.
Most of the time a colonoscopy will not find anything to worry about. But it might help to speak to someone if you're feeling worried about your results.
With the increased risks of letting colon polyps grow, any polyps that are discovered during a colonoscopy will be removed, if possible, during the procedure. The doctor will then send the removed polyps to a lab where they will be tested to determine whether they are cancerous, precancerous, or noncancerous.
Colonoscopies can detect conditions like colitis, inflammatory bowel disease and diverticulosis. But mainly, doctors are looking for precancerous or cancerous colon polyps, which are growths on the inside of the colon's lining.
Here's what we know: As often as 40% of the time, a precancerous polyp — frequently a type called an adenoma — is found during a screening colonoscopy. Colon cancer is found during only in about 40 out of 10,000 screening colonoscopies, Dr. Sand said.
Colon Cancer Diagnosis: Getting a Colonoscopy
Screening is crucial for cancer detection because most colorectal cancers don't cause symptoms in the early stages. Many times, doctors first spot colon cancer during a routine screening colonoscopy.
Patients with a FIT of 4–10 µg Hb/g faeces with anaemia, low ferritin or thrombocytosis, or with FIT ≥10 µg Hb/g faeces are considered 'positive' and investigated urgently via the 2WW.
A positive FIT test will tell your doctor that you have bleeding occurring somewhere in your gastrointestinal tract. This blood loss could be due to ulcers, bulges, polyps, inflammatory bowel disease, haemorrhoids (piles), swallowed blood from bleeding gums or nosebleeds, or it could be due to early bowel cancer.
Infection Rates After Colonoscopy
The rate of infection in the digestive system after having a colonoscopy is low. The infection rates broken out by procedure were: Colonoscopy without invasive intervention (such as polyp removal): 0.41 % Sigmoidoscopy without invasive intervention: 0.25 %
After a colonoscopy, you'll stay at the clinic until you wake up. Then you can go home. But you'll need to arrange for a ride. Your doctor will tell you when you can eat and do your other usual activities.
If a standard colonoscopy is not successful despite the described methods, alternative endoscopic approaches or imaging can be considered. Current options include repeat colonoscopy with or without anesthesia, double-contrast barium enema, computed tomography colonography (CTC), or overtube-assisted colonoscopy.
Before you go home, your doctor tells you if they removed any growths (polyps) or tissue samples (biopsies) from your bowel. The biopsy results can take up to 2 weeks.
If a polyp is removed or a sample of the colon lining is removed (a colonic biopsy), it may take a few days (or more) to find out that cancer, an adenoma or another finding was discovered.
In general, stages 0, I, II, and III are often curable with surgery. However, many people with stage III colorectal cancer, and some with stage II, receive chemotherapy after surgery to increase the chance of eliminating the disease.
Colon cancer is typically slow-growing, starting as a benign polyp that eventually becomes malignant. This process may occur over many years without producing any symptoms. Once colon cancer has developed, it may still be years before it is detected.
The 5-year relative survival rate for localized stage colorectal cancer is 91%. About 37% of patients are diagnosed at this early stage. If the cancer has spread to surrounding tissues or organs and/or the regional lymph nodes, the 5-year relative survival rate is 73%.
If your doctor thinks an area needs further evaluation, he or she might pass an instrument through the colonoscope to obtain a biopsy (a small sample of the colon lining) to be analyzed. Biopsies are used to identify many conditions, and your doctor will often take a biopsy even if he or she doesn't suspect cancer.
Colonoscopy. A colonoscopy is the most common test used to diagnose colorectal cancer. During a colonoscopy, the doctor looks inside the colon and rectum using a flexible tube with a light and lens on the end (called an endoscope).
The camera sends images to an external monitor so that the doctor can study the inside of your colon. The doctor can also insert instruments through the channel to take tissue samples (biopsies) or remove polyps or other areas of abnormal tissue. A colonoscopy typically takes about 30 to 60 minutes.