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Virtual Colonoscopy Video

This clip discusses the new, less invasive screening procedure called virtual colonoscopy and how to prepare for it.

The fact is that half of all people who should have a colonoscopy don't have one out of fear or ignorance that they need to have one. And yet, colon cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among nonsmokers. Enter virtual colonoscopy, an up and coming procedure that uses a CT scanner to outline an X-ray picture of the colon and to find polyps without having an invasive procedure.

Preparation

As you'll see in the video, you still need to prepare your body for a virtual colonoscopy by not eating before the procedure and by taking medication to cleanse your colon. In the future, however, it will be easier to prepare for a virtual colonoscopy and you won't have to drink gallons of colon cleanser in order to have the test.

As you watch the virtual colonoscopy video, you'll see that there are black spots that represent air in the colon. During the CT scan, a small amount of air is introduced into the colon with a rubber tube so that the colon fills up, exposing the wall of the colon and allowing polyps to be easily seen. The only polyps that are sometimes not seen are those that are flat against the wall of the colon. They would have been picked up on a colonoscopy but are missed on the virtual colonoscopy video.

How it Works

On the virtual colonoscopy video, the virtual colonoscopy is done in 3D and in 2D. In the 2D mode, the doctor clicks through segments of the colon as the pictures are taken on the CT scan. Polyps show up as fingerlike or sessile (flatter) growths on the wall of the colon. In 3D mode, the cross sections are combined in the computer so the doctor can get a 3D image of the colon and perhaps see narrowing of the colon that doesn't show up as easily in the 2D image.

The procedure, as you can see, uses the CT scanner to take cross sectional images of the abdomen. The air blows up the colon so that any polyps will be immediately visible. The polyps are of the same density as the colon tissue so they show up as white or grayish on the monitor. Hard copy pictures can be maintained for future reference. None of the colon is missed on this type of procedure so it is around 85 percent successful in picking up polyps.

Costs

One of the problems with virtual colonoscopy is that insurance doesn't cover for the $1200 bill. You need to save your money or take out a loan for this procedure. As it becomes more popular and is shown to find cancerous or precancerous polyps as well as a colonoscopy does, it may be paid for by insurance. As it stands colonoscopy is the gold standard for colon cancer detection and protection.

Remember that virtual colonoscopy is a good detector of colon cancer but can do nothing to prevent polyps from turning into cancer if used alone. All people who have a virtual colonoscopy who show polyps must undergo a regular colonoscopy after that to find and biopsy or remove the colon polyp. This adds to the overall cost of doing virtual colonoscopy.

Hopefully, after seeing a virtual colonoscopy video, people will be more likely to undergo such a procedure. This should be even more true when the preparation for the virtual colonoscopy is easier than with regular colonoscopy and when insurance plans begin to recognize it as a procedure that is worth having done because more people are choosing to be screened. Virtual colonoscopies may, in fact, be the future trend in having polyps detected with more people choosing to have this procedure over having a complete colonoscopy.

Written by Christine Traxler

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