Water method for unsedated colonoscopy; interval between prep and colonoscopy predicts pr...( OAK BROOK Ill. March 2 2009 In rec...),Health

OAK BROOK, Ill. March 2, 2009 In recognition of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month during March, GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy has put out a special issue on colonoscopy for colorectal neoplasia. Studies of note regarding colonoscopy appear in both the monthly March issue and the special issue. A study appearing in the March issue from researchers in California focuses on the impact of a novel water method on scheduled unsedated colonoscopy in U.S. veterans. Researchers in Texas looked at how the time interval between the completion of the last dose of bowel preparation and the start of colonoscopy predicts the quality of the bowel preparation in a study appearing in the special issue. GIE: Gastrointestinal Endoscopy is the monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE).

Endoscopy is a procedure that uses an endoscope -- a thin, flexible tube with a light and a lens on the end to look into the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, small intestine, colon, or rectum, in order to diagnose or treat a condition. There are many types of endoscopy, including colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, gastroscopy, enteroscopy, and esophogogastroduodenoscopy (EGD). Colonoscopy is frequently used to screen for colorectal cancer, which most typically develops from polyps (growths in the colon).

During a colonoscopy, the colon must be distended (expanded) in order to pass the colonoscope through the full length of the colon to the cecum (the cul-de-sac lying below the terminal ileum forming the first part of the large intestine or colon ). The advancement of the scope into the cecum is termed cecal intubation and is mandatory for colonoscopy to be effective. Air is the usual medium to distend the bowel. However, air insertion can lengthen the colon (much like an accordion) and result in disc
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