# Virtual Colonoscopy



## 13375 (Aug 9, 2006)

Since I am not keen on the notion of having a tube inserted in me I was considering having a Virtual Colonoscopy.Anyone ever have one?Are they safe(radiation exposure)Are they accurate?Anyone recommend it?Opinions.Thanks


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## Jannybitt (Oct 13, 2006)

Never heard of a virtual colonoscopy.


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## 20341 (Jan 28, 2007)

I have never heard of it before. I just went for my colonoscopy and they give you a sedative and you go to sleep. It wasn't bad at all.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

There is radiation exposure.


> quote:CT colonography does require exposure to x-rays, but the radiation dose is very low, typically 15 percent less than is needed for a barium enema x-ray examination of the colon. See the Safety page for more information about radiation dose. http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=ct_colo&bhcp=1


I think they were pretty accurate, but http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/p...scopy/index.htm says they are not quite as detailed so small polyps may be missed.If they find any polyps or see anything that needs to be biopsied they will have to do the regular one anyway.I think the study people found them more uncomfortable because they don't have to sedate you, but I think they still need to pump you full of air just like the regular colonoscopy (so you still get a tube in the rectum, just not the whole way up). The regular one is more uncomfortable if you did both unsedated, but most people are sedated for the regular colonoscopy.It is the same clean out prep, so you don't skip that.K.


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## suffering (Sep 16, 2005)

In my doctor's office, they had a write-up about virtual colonoscopies. In short, they do not recommend them.


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## 19506 (Oct 7, 2006)

My GI doc's partner just recommended one for me because I have continued problems which they think is Crohn's Disease, even though a CT scan and Barium x-ray show nothing. He claims the capsule colonoscopy (same thing, right?) is more accurate for diagnosing Crohn's.


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## 19506 (Oct 7, 2006)

correction: What was recommended for me was a capsule endoscopy, not colonoscopy. I don't know the difference, and I don't know if it is the same as Virtual Colonoscopy.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

The capsule is different from the virtual colonoscopy.With the capsule endoscopy you swallow the camera and it takes pictures from the inside of the stomach and small intestine. It can take the pictures for like 6 hours or so of the battery life it has. You will then pass the capsule like anything else you swallow.The virtual colonoscopy is done in a CT scanner and it takes X-rays of you from many angles than uses the information to construct pictures of what you look like inside.Sometimes Crohns is in parts of the small intestine where it is hard to see the lining from any other technique so the capsule can be used to see it. With CT scanning you are mostly inferring it from thickness of the wall of the gut rather than having direct visual evidence of it.K>


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