Dr. Mehmet Oz is always encouraging people to live healthier lives and that includes following recommendations about colon cancer screening. This year Dr. Oz turned 50 and, , he underwent a colonoscopy. During the examination, his doctor found and removed an adenomatous polyp, a precancerous growth, inside his intestine. Dr. Oz told magazine:“This was a shakeup for me. I have done everything right. I don’t have any family history, and yet I’m high risk now….The only thing holding me back from a terrible outcome is the dumb luck that I checked myself out for the show. I would have put this off, like a lot of people. But I bet this saved my life.”
Dr. Oz will now need to get frequent colonoscopies to make sure no new polyps have developed, the first -- three months from now.
Dr. Oz underwent the traditional method of colonoscopy with a flexible colonoscope. However in February of this year, President Obama underwent a virtual colonoscopy during his . So, what are the pros and cons of tradition vs. virtual colonoscopy?
Virtual colonoscopy uses either a CT or MRI scanner to develop a 3-D image of the colon. Like traditional colonoscopy, a thorough bowel clean-out is necessary. Before the exam, a CT-scan patient drinks a liquid contrast media. To start the exam, a thin tube is inserted through the anus and into the rectum. For CT, carbon dioxide gas is pumped through the tube expanding the large intestine for better viewing. For MRI, contrast media will be given rectally to expand the large intestine.
What are the advantages of virtual colonoscopy? Source:
Virtual colonoscopy has several advantages over other procedures:
- Virtual colonoscopy does not require the insertion of a colonoscope into the entire length of the colon. Instead, a thin tube is inserted through the anus and into the rectum to expand the large intestine with air.
- No sedation is needed. A patient can return to usual activities or go home after the procedure without the aid of another person.
- Virtual colonoscopy provides clearer, more detailed images than a conventional x-ray using a barium enema — sometimes called a lower GI series.
- Virtual colonoscopy takes less time than either conventional colonoscopy or a lower GI series.
- Virtual colonoscopy can see inside a colon that is narrowed due to inflammation or the presence of an abnormal growth.
What are the disadvantages of virtual colonoscopy?
Virtual colonoscopy has several disadvantages:
- As with conventional colonoscopy, virtual colonoscopy requires bowel prep and the insertion of a tube into the rectum for expanding the large intestine with gas or liquid.
- Virtual colonoscopy does not allow the doctor to remove tissue samples or polyps.
- Virtual colonoscopy does not detect precancerous polyps smaller than 10 millimeters.
- Many health insurance plans, including Medicare, do not pay for virtual colonoscopy cancer screening.
- Virtual colonoscopy is a newer technology and is not as widely available as conventional colonoscopy.