Virtual colonoscopy

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Colonoscopy - virtual

• Radiation exposure
• Nausea, vomiting, bloating, or rectal irritation caused prep medications

Differences between virtual and conventional colonoscopy include:

• Virtual colonoscopy uses no sedation, and patients are usually able to resume normal activities immediately after the test. Conventional colonoscopy involves sedation, and usually the loss of a work day.
• If a polyp is found with virtual colonoscopy, the patient must have a conventional colonoscopy to remove the abnormality. Conventional colonoscopy allows for the immediate removal of polyps .
• Both procedures can spot polyps that have reached a large, worrisome size. However, virtual colonoscopy is not as detailed as a conventional colonoscopy, and may miss polyps smaller than 10 millimeters in diameter or flat lesions.
• Virtual colonoscopy can view the colon from many different angles. This is not easy with conventional colonoscopy.
• Virtual colonoscopy is not currently recommended as a screening tool for the early detection of colon cancer. Routine screening for colon cancer involves conventional colonoscopy, as well as other tests.

Review Date: 01/24/2007
Reviewed By: Stuart Bentley-Hibbert, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.