Please do:

• Take your "Bowel Prep" as directed.
• Have nil by mouth for 4 hours immediately prior to procedure
• Bring a list of your current medication.
• Bring your Medicare card and private health cover details if applicable.
• Advise us 7 days beforehand if you are on WARFARIN or INSULIN. 

Colonoscopy is the direct examination of the large bowel (colon) and rectum via a colonoscope - a long, flexible tube about 11 mm in diameter which displays an image on a TV screen. Small tissue samples (biopsies) may be collected and wart like growths (polyps) removed in conjunction with colonoscopy by passing long, thin forceps or snare down a channel in the colonoscope.

What preparation is necessary?

• Successful completion of your bowel preparation. (See separate page).
• Nil by mouth for at least three hours prior to the procedure.
• Iron tablets and aspirin should be stopped seven days prior to the procedure.
• All regular medications (excepting aspirin, iron and diabetic medication) to be taken as usual with a small amount of water on the day of the procedure.
• Patients on Warfarin or Insulin MUST contact Dr DorringtonÕs rooms at least 4 days prior to the procedure to make special arrangements.

Dr Dorrington will be assisted by both a nurse and a specialist anaesthetist. You will be asked for details of your medical history as special precautions may be necessary to reduce risks, especially if you have had a serious heart, chest or other medical problem.

At the beginning of the procedure, you will be given an injection into a vein to sedate and relax you. Oxygen is given via a face mask, with the levels in your blood being monitored via a "peg" on your finger. The colonoscope is inserted through the anus (back passage) into the rectum and the large bowel. If any polyps (benign wart-like growths) are found, it is advised that they be removed at the time as cancer of the large bowel can arise from these growths. Most polyps can be removed by placing a wire snare around the base of the polyp and applying an electric current (polypectomy).

After your Colonoscopy.

After the procedure you will be monitored in Recovery until you are able to be assisted to a chair in the Recovery Lounge where you will be offered light refreshments.

When you have recovered suitably, Dr Dorrington will briefly discuss the report with you. With Direct Access Colonoscopy, it is up to the referring doctor and not the doctor performing the procedure to assess the relevance of the findings in relation to your symptoms and institute any treatment.

The sedation has the effect of frequently causing you to forget what you are told after the procedure. A complete, detailed report will be sent to your doctor.

You will, in general, be ready to go home about one hour after the procedure. You should have someone stay with you for the rest of the day and preferably overnight.

Complications of diagnostic colonoscopy are uncommon and most surveys report complications in fewer than one in a thousand patients.

Complications which can occur include intolerance to the bowel preparation solution - usually nausea, vomiting and occasionally dehydration, or reaction to sedatives. Sensitivity to the disinfectants used to clean the instrument is a very occasional problem.

Perforation (making a hole in the bowel) or major bleeding from the bowel is extremely rare but if it occurs, may require surgery. When operations such as removal of polyps are carried out at the time of examination, there is a slightly higher risk of perforation, or indeed bleeding from the site where the polyp was being removed. In the unlikely event of major haemorrhaging occurring, blood transfusion may be necessary. Please inform Dr Dorrington if you have any religious or ethical reservations re blood transfusion.

Complications of sedation are uncommon and are usually avoided by administering oxygen and monitoring oxygen levels in the blood during the procedure. Rarely, however, particularly in patients with severe cardiac or chest disease, serious sedation related problems can occur.

A number of rare side effects can occur with any endoscopic procedure. Death is a remote possibility with any interventional procedure.