Virtual Colonoscopy?

Have you been putting off having a colonoscopy because of the discomfort of the procedure? Now you may not have to have a tube run through your colon to be screened for cancer!

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States, after lung cancer. The American Cancer Society predicts there will be 148,610 new cases diagnosed in 2006 and 55,170 colon cancer deaths. It is one of the most preventable cancers there is, however: Screening and removal of polyps can prevent the disease.

The first study into results of virtual colonoscopies, paid for by insurance companies, showed that only 6.4 percent of patients required follow-up with optical colonoscopy, which involves threading a tiny camera on a tube through the rectum and into the colon.

The research team used three-dimensional computed tomography colonography, commonly known as virtual colonoscopy, to screen 1,110 adults with an average age of 58. The virtual procedure is noninvasive and involves passing the patient through a scanning machine.

They found large or medium polyps in 10 percent of the patients. Seventy-one, or 6.4 percent, of the patients had a second, standard colonoscopy, most on the same day.

The standard colonoscopy findings were the same as the virtual colonoscopy findings in 65 of the 71 patients, the researchers reported in the journal Radiology.

The advantages of virtual colonoscopy over optical colonoscopy are that it is safer, faster, less costly, more convenient, involves an easier bowel prep, and yet is just as effective for detecting important polyps and cancers.

So, have you been putting off your colonoscopy? If so, contact your insurance company and see if they are now covering virtual screening. Don’t put off a simple screening tool that has just been made easier.

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