Colonoscopy of the intestine is the most effective method with which to diagnose its diseases. This method provides accurate information about the state of the intestinal mucosa. If suspicious areas are found, the doctor takes the tissue for examination. As a result, it is possible to detect the formation of malignant tumors at an early stage. In addition, the endoscope, which is used for this manipulation, can remove the polyps located on the walls of the intestine. They are benign neoplasms, but over time they can degenerate into colon cancer. It should be noted that in paid medical centers the price of intestinal colonoscopy is about 7 thousand rubles.
Colonoscopy preparations
The survey data will be informative in the absence of feces in the intestine. Proper preparation for the procedure ensures the success of its implementation. Without the following two conditions, it will be meaningless:
- slag-free diet;
- thorough bowel cleansing.
It should be noted that both requirements are fulfilled not on the day of the procedure, but in advance.
Diet before colon colonoscopy, menu
A diet is sufficient for two days, but it is better if it lasts a week. In this case, the intestines will clear completely. In the early days, you can eat ordinary low-calorie foods, eliminating fatty foods. In the afternoon, it is advisable to use only fermented milk products and water for dinner. The following foods should be excluded during this period:
- fresh vegetables;
- legumes;
- fatty meat and smoked meats;
- cereals;
- nuts
- fruits;
- dairy and carbonated drinks;
- black bread.
The diet should include:
- lean fish;
- boiled and lean meat;
- low-fat broths;
- fermented milk drinks, tea, water.
On the day before an intestinal colonoscopy for lunch, you can prepare a non-greasy broth and tea. Dinner consists only of tea. For breakfast - water or tea. In some cases, after such a moderate diet, headache and a feeling of nausea are possible. Do not be afraid, this is normal. Hunger will haunt, he will have to fight. After completing the procedure, introduce regular foods into the diet gradually.
Preparing for an enema procedure
You can cleanse your intestines in many ways. Although until recently, there was only one - this is an enema. Many people still use this method. How to prepare for an intestinal colonoscopy using an enema? To do this, you must:
- On the eve of the examination, at 19 hours, put an enema using 1.5 liters of water.
- At 20 hours repeat the action. Rinse until clean water flows.
- On the day of the examination at 7 o’clock do an intestinal cleansing with an enema. The volume of water, as in the evening, is one and a half liters.
- At 8 hours, repeat the procedure.
Before an evening cleansing enema, it is recommended to take 50 g of castor oil or 100 ml of a 25% solution of magnesium sulfate as a laxative. However, such preparation for intestinal colonoscopy has significant drawbacks:
- An assistant is needed who will hold a container of water and control its flow;
- damage to the rectal mucosa is possible with an enema tip if the patient suffers from hemorrhoids or has cracks in the anus.
The only plus of this purification is cheapness, the procedure costs nothing.
Preparation with the drug "Dufalac"
This soft and effective laxative makes it easy to empty the intestines. How to prepare for colonoscopy of the intestine using Dufalac? To do this, you need to purchase a 200 ml bottle of the drug in advance. Take the medicine before the day of the procedure, two hours after lunch. For this, the medicine is dissolved in two liters of ordinary water. The resulting solution is drunk in two or three hours in small sips. Bowel cleansing begins 60 minutes after taking the medication, and ends three hours after consuming the last portion. For the patient, this procedure is very comfortable.
Preparation for colonoscopy with Fortrans drug
In some diseases associated with the presence of blood in urine or chronic diarrhea, constipation, an intestinal colonoscopy is performed to make an accurate diagnosis. "Fortrans" is used to prepare for the study. This laxative drug works only in the intestine and is excreted unchanged from the body. The package contains four powders with a fruity taste. For purification, you must:
- Calculate the required amount of the drug, given that one powder is taken for 15-20 kg of weight and dissolved in a liter of water, which means that for a person weighing 80 kg, 4 liters of water and a package of powder will be required.
- Purchase the required amount of the drug at the pharmacy.
- Dissolve the powder in water.
- Take the solution on the eve of the examination, it is recommended to start at 15 o’clock. To do this, drink one glass of liquid every hour, or divide the solution equally into two parts. The first - to drink the day before, and the second - in the morning. The last portion should be consumed four hours before the examination.
Bowel movement occurs one and a half hours after taking the first portion, and the final - in the form of clean water - two hours after the last dose. In this case, we can assume that the preparation for intestinal colonoscopy was successful. The advantages of the drug "Fortrans" are as follows:
- it is not absorbed into the intestinal mucosa and stomach;
- a large volume of fluid helps maintain water-salt balance;
- no need to resort to outsiders.
Disadvantages:
- not everyone likes a particular fruity taste;
- possible nausea and vomiting;
- you need to drink a lot of fluid, not every patient can do it;
- applies to persons over 15 years old.
Preparation using the drug "Fleet"
This drug, like the previous ones, has been successfully used to cleanse the intestines. How to prepare for colon colonoscopy with Fleet? It is consumed the day before the prescribed procedure immediately after breakfast - 45 ml is diluted in 0.5 cups of water and in the evening after meals in the same dose. When examining in the daytime, they take another same portion up to 8 hours. When using the drug, the following conditions must be met:
- breakfast and dinner should consist of water, which should drink at least a glass;
- for lunch - 750 ml of liquid in the form of broth, tea, water;
- after each dose, drink one to three glasses of water. The volume of fluid is not limited.
Bowel emptying after the start of medication occurs, at the earliest, after half an hour, and at the latest - after six hours. Proper colon cleansing for colonoscopy depends on the exact implementation of the instructions.
Difference of "Endofalk" from other laxatives to prepare for colonoscopy
All preparations containing macrogol act the same. For the patient, taste is very important so that when you cleanse the intestines, drink the right amount of solution. It depends on the special qualities of the drug, which are affected by the amount of salts and flavorings. “Endofalk” does not contain bitter sodium sulfate, but it contains a pleasant supplement with the taste of passion fruit and orange.
How to prepare for a colonoscopy of the intestine using this laxative? With normal stool, it is enough to drink three, and with an irregular act of defecation, four liters of solution will be required. For ease of use, the drug is available in several dosage forms. To prepare one liter of liquid, you will need to dissolve two bags of "Endofalk". A balanced and pleasant taste of this product will not deliver unpleasant moments.
Virtual intestinal colonoscopy of MSCT (multilayer computed tomography)
This procedure is a new method for examining the intestines. It is based on the unique features of x-rays. For this, special equipment is used, which is a source of x-rays and allows you to display an image of internal organs, which is subsequently used by doctors to make a diagnosis. Thanks to the use of the latest equipment, it is possible to study not only the structure of the scanned organ, but also the processes that occur in it. Such a procedure does not cause pain and discomfort to the patient, it takes little time, and the radiation dose is minimal. It is not always possible to replace the traditional procedure for colon colonoscopy with a virtual one. The patient, who is the first time to examine the intestines, conduct it in the traditional way. Indications for a virtual bowel examination are the following patient complaints:
- pain in the abdomen;
- detection in the stool of blood;
- diarrhea, followed by constipation;
- increased gas formation;
- relapse of bowel disease.
Such manipulation is undesirable in childhood, it is strictly contraindicated for pregnant women, and with the introduction of a contrast medium it is not recommended for persons who have:
- diabetes;
- allergic reaction to iodine;
- disorders in the thyroid gland;
- diseases of the liver and kidneys.
Products that cause the formation of gases for two days are excluded from the menu before colonoscopy of the intestine. On the day of the study, in addition to water, do not consume any products. Pure water or with the addition of contrast medium is drunk in small portions. Before MSCT, bowel cleansing is carried out using an enema or the Fortrans or Fleet laxatives described above, according to the instructions for use. To conduct the study, the patient lies on a special couch with a lift and is placed in the capsule of the device. The time spent in it is several tens of minutes, and the exposure to x-rays is no more than a minute. The cost of a colonoscopy using computed tomography is about six thousand rubles, and with the introduction of a contrast medium - about nine thousand rubles. The cost depends on the qualifications of specialists and the quality of the equipment.
Which bowel examination procedure is better to choose?
There are several methods for making the correct diagnosis for gastrointestinal diseases, but colonoscopy and MRI are accurate and give reliable information. Patients are often worried about what to choose: intestinal MRI or colonoscopy? The essence of the first method is to obtain detailed images as a result of the passage of magnetic fields through the studied organs. They allow you to identify areas of bleeding, inflammation, polyps, tumors. MRI is most often performed for the small intestine. Manipulation is completely painless and comfortable. Before scanning, they do not eat food 11 hours before the manipulation, empty the bladder and do not drink water 4 hours before the procedure. The second method is carried out using a special apparatus - a colonoscope, which consists of a tube with a video camera. It requires careful preparation - following a certain diet for a week and thoroughly cleaning the intestines with an enema or using laxatives. After completion of preparation for the procedure, intestinal colonoscopy is carried out not only with an examination of the intestinal mucosa, but also the polyps that are met are removed, the biomaterial is taken for microscopic examination.
Advantages and disadvantages of research procedures
The advantages of MRI are as follows:
- comfortable procedure without pain and discomfort;
- reveals neoplasms in the early stages;
- accurate and detailed shots;
- the ability to examine the small intestine;
- no pain relief required.
Benefits of colon colonoscopy:
- sampling of material for research;
- assessment of the intestinal mucous membranes;
- detection of neoplasms;
- removal of polyps.
There is a rather large list of contraindications for MRI: mental abnormalities, fixed medical devices and prostheses, severe pain, kidney disease and the high cost of the procedure. In turn, colonoscopy causes unpleasant sensations and pain in patients, requires careful preparation for examination, as a result of which damage to the mucous membrane is possible. Not recommended for people with ulcerative colitis, heart disease.
What to choose for the patient: intestinal MRI or colonoscopy? To do this, make the following comparison:
- The effect of the study. For bowel scans, MRI provides more information. A colonoscope cannot pass into the small intestine and hard-to-reach areas, but will provide information on the condition of the mucous membranes, remove polyps and take biomaterial for analysis.
- The duration of the procedure. Both are performed for about an hour, preparing for a colonoscopy takes significantly longer than for an MRI.
- Side effects. With magnetic resonance imaging, the individual feels comfortable. Colonoscopy is accompanied by bloating, discomfort, pain. However, intestinal colonoscopy is possible under anesthesia.
The choice of procedure depends on the purpose of the study. If an inflammatory process is detected, it is difficult to diagnose the disease on the basis of one MRI. In this case, it is necessary to take a sample of biomaterial for laboratory analysis. And this can be done only by performing a colonoscopy. In addition, it allows you to make some medical manipulations.
In what cases is a colonoscopy performed with analgesia
After the patient underwent a thorough cleansing at home, a colonoscopy of the intestine is carried out in a medical institution. In most patients, this procedure is performed without anesthesia, but in some cases it is necessary:
- Children under 12 years of age. Pain can traumatize the psyche of a child.
- Adhesive bowel disease. It is formed as a complication after surgery. Loops of the intestine are fused with connective tissue, which creates obstacles to the passage of the colonoscope and causes severe pain.
- Extensive destructive processes. Accompanied by pain.
- Low threshold of pain sensitivity. People with this symptom may experience pain shock and pass out.
In paid medical centers, the price of intestinal colonoscopy under anesthesia is from 8 thousand rubles. For pain relief, two methods are used - sedation and general anesthesia. At the first, the patient is brought into a state of superficial sleep with the help of medications, in the second there is a complete loss of consciousness.
A bowel examination under general anesthesia
In this state, the patient does not hear or feel anything, which protects him from pain. But it is not always possible to immerse the patient in such a state. Narcosis is contraindicated in:
- severe heart failure;
- exacerbation of chronic bronchitis and bronchial asthma;
- acute mental and neurological diseases.
In children, the intestinal colonoscopy procedure cannot be used for:
- infectious diseases of the respiratory tract;
- elevated temperature;
- lack of weight;
- pustular lesions on the body;
- rachite.
General anesthesia always has a certain risk to life, so it is very rarely used in the study of the intestine. If necessary, sedation is used.
Instead of a conclusion
Colonoscopy of the intestine is recommended to be performed regularly for all women and men whose age exceeds 50 years. This procedure is necessary to identify in the early stages of malignant neoplasms and remove polyps that can degenerate into cancer. Until recently, bowel disease was difficult to diagnose. The doctor’s only instrument was his hands and knowledge acquired in practice. Thanks to the development of science in the 21st century, a flexible endoscope appeared - a device with which the doctor was able to look inside a person and examine the colon.