After your colonoscopy, you will stay in a recovery area until your sedatives wear off. If any polyps are removed, they will be sent to a lab for analysis. The results can be cancerous, precancerous, or noncancerous.
For patients with normal, high-quality colonoscopy, repeat colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in 10 years. 2. For patients with 1-2 tubular adenomas <10 mm in size completely removed at a high-quality examination, repeat colonoscopy in 7-10 years.
Positive result
Polyps removed during colonoscopy are sent to a laboratory for analysis to determine whether they are cancerous, precancerous or noncancerous. Depending on the size and number of polyps, you may need to follow a more rigorous surveillance schedule in the future to look for more polyps.
A colonoscopy can be used to look for cancer of the colon (bowel cancer) or colon polyps, which are growths on the lining of the colon that can sometimes be cancerous or may grow to be cancerous. A colonoscopy may be performed to find the cause of signs and symptoms including: bleeding from the rectum.
Usually if a suspected colorectal cancer is found by any screening or diagnostic test, it is biopsied during a colonoscopy. In a biopsy, the doctor removes a small piece of tissue with a special instrument passed through the scope. Less often, part of the colon may need to be surgically removed to make the diagnosis.
Your doctor can't usually tell, simply by looking at a polyp during a colonoscopy, if it's cancerous. But if a polyp is found during your colonoscopy, your doctor will remove it and send it to a lab for a biopsy to check for cancerous or precancerous cells.
Some early colon cancers (stage 0 and some early stage I tumors) and most polyps can be removed during a colonoscopy. This is a procedure that uses a long flexible tube with a small video camera on the end that's put into the person's rectum and eased into the colon.
Your colonoscopy result
You should get a letter or a call with your results 2 to 3 weeks after a colonoscopy. If a GP sent you for the test, they should also get a copy of your results. Call the hospital if you have not heard anything after 3 weeks.
Before leaving, you will receive an After Visit Summary (AVS) with the findings from your procedure. If any biopsies were taken, they will be sent to the lab for further analysis and you will receive a letter in approximately 1- 2 weeks with the results and the recommended time until your next colonoscopy.
He estimates that a colonoscopy will successfully remove all identified polyps about 98 percent of the time. However, sometimes you may need a second procedure or surgery, if the polyps are large or there is concern that they've already become cancerous, he said.
After the procedure
Afterwards, you may feel drowsy, and will need to arrange for somebody to help you get home. It is also recommended that you arrange to have someone stay with you the night after your colonoscopy. Straight after the sedation you should not: drive a car.
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.
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.
In general, colonoscopy is a safe procedure. As with any medical procedure, however, there are some risks associated with the procedure and with the sedation used. You should contact your doctor if you feel severe abdominal pain, dizziness, fever, chills or rectal bleeding after the colonoscopy.
Once they are at home, patients should allow themselves at least 24 hours to rest and recover. It is common for our patients to experience some mild side effects following their colonoscopy. Some of these side effects are a reaction to the sedation, while others are directly related to the colonoscopy.
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.
Getting your results
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. Your specialist writes to you with the results.
Relative sensitivity of colonoscopy and barium enema for detection of colorectal cancer in clinical practice. from 20 Indiana hospitals, the miss rate of colonoscopy for colorectal cancer was 5%. However, because this estimate was not population based, it may not reflect the miss rate in usual clinical practice.
The presence of PTSD has a marked impact on colonoscopy rates in Australian veterans. The increased polypectomy rate independent of increased colonoscopy rate suggests that PTSD is a risk factor for colonic polyp formation.
If a polyp has cancerous cells, they will also biopsy nearby lymph nodes to determine if the cancer has spread or metastasized to other areas of the body. In this case radiation, chemotherapy or other therapies may be recommended. Colonoscopy screenings can be life saving!
If the cancer has not spread then the doctor may suggest removing the cancerous polyps, usually through either a colonoscopy or laparoscopy. However, often the cancer has spread to the muscles surrounding the colon. In this instance, the doctor may opt for a colectomy.
Nearly all cases of colorectal cancer develop from polyps. They start in the inner lining of the colon and most often affect the left side of the colon and rectum. Detection and removal of polyps through colonoscopy reduces the risk of colorectal cancer.