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Your primary care doctor may do fecal occult blood testing to detect
tiny amounts of invisible blood. This test is inexpensive and very simple.
Unfortunately, it only detects cancers or polyps that are bleeding at the
time of the test. Therefore, further screening is necessary for accurate
detection of polyps and cancers.
Flexible Sigmoidoscopy is a test which allows physicians to look
directly at the lining of the lower one-third of the colon and rectum.
This is a good test to look at part of the colon and rectum, however it
does not look at the whole colon. Therefore, it should not be used as the
only diagnostic test.
A barium enema, x-ray of the colon with air and dye, is almost as good
as a colonoscopy for detecting large tumors. It is not as accurate for
small polyps or tumors. Barium enema and sigmoidoscopy is better than
either test alone, but not as good as a colonoscopy.
Colonoscopy provides a safe, effective means of visually examining the
full lining of the colon and rectum. It allows your physician to visualize
the entire colon and rectum by using a flexible instrument. It also gives
your physician the ability to remove polyps and perform biopsies. A
colonoscopy is done as an outpatient procedure and IV sedation is given to
minimize discomfort.
All patients 50 years old or older without a family or personal history
of colorectal cancer or polyps should have a screening colonoscopy. If the
test is negative, it should be repeated every 10 years. The following is
recommended for high risk patients:
-Patients with a family history of colorectal cancer should start at
age 40 for colonoscopy or 5 years before the age the family member was
diagnosed.
-Patients with a history of Crohn’s or Ulcerative Colitis should have
colonoscopies every one to two years if they have had the disease for
greater than 8 years.
-Patients with a personal history of breast, ovarian or uterine cancer
should have colonoscopies beginning at age 40 and every 5 years there
after.
-Patients who have pre-cancerous polyps should have a repeat
colonoscopy one to three years after the first exam.
-Patients with a personal history of colorectal cancer should have a
repeat colonoscopy one year after cancer detected and surgically removed. |