Colonoscopy

Using a long, thin, flexible, tube-like instrument, your physician can visually inspect the lining of the colon. The scope bends, so the doctor can move it around the curves of your colon. The scope also blows air into your colon, which inflates the colon and helps the physician see better.

For the procedure, you will lie on your left side on the examining table. You will be given pain medication and sedation to keep you comfortable and sleepy during the exam. The physician will insert the scope into the rectum and slowly guide it all the way up through the colon to the lower end of the small intestine. Colonoscopy is a relatively simple and painless procedure and usually lasts less than one half hour.

Colonoscopy is used to evaluate the lining of the colon in order to check for several medical conditions. It is the method of choice for screening patients at risk for colon cancer.

Colonoscopy with biopsy: colonoscopy in which a specimen of tissue is removed for examination by a pathologist.

Colonoscopy with polyp removal: colonoscopy in which a polyp (abnormal growth from the lining of the colon) is removed with a wire snare or forceps.

Please view this informative video from the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy: Colonoscopy - What You Neeed to Know