Colonoscopy

This is a diagnostic test to see inside the colon, also known as the large bowel or large intestine. The colon is the part of your body that absorbs water from the food and drinks you take in, and it sends the water to your kidneys to be expelled as urine.

A colonoscopy is recommended if a patient has a change in bowel habit or bleeding, which may indicate a possible problem in the colon or rectum. It is also necessary to:

• Find out the reason for unexplained abdominal symptoms
• Find inflammatory bowel disease (colitis)
• Find polyps or tumors that were seen during an X-ray using barium
• Find out why there is blood in the stool
• Monitor patients with a past history of colon polyps or cancer

A colonoscopy is recommended as a potentially life-saving screening tool for colorectal cancer in all people age 45 and over.

To prepare for a colonoscopy, patients must clear out all stool from their colons. To do this, your Mount Sinai gastroenterologist will prescribe a special preparation that causes you to go to the bathroom until nothing remains in your colon.

The procedure itself is usually performed on an outpatient basis and takes less than an hour. Your doctor will give you a mild sedative to relieve anxiety and discomfort, and then a stronger anesthesia to put you comfortably asleep. While you’re sleeping, the doctor will insert a flexible scope with a camera at the end to look at your entire colon all the way to the point where it joins with the small intestine. In addition to examining the colon for any abnormal growths, inflammation, and diverticula (pockets in the lining of the colon), your Mount Sinai gastroenterologist can also take tissue samples during the colonoscopy, which can later be examined under a microscope. These are called biopsies. He or she may also remove any abnormal growths, or polyps, that have the potential to become cancerous.