Examination of the inside of the colon by means of a flexible, fibre-optic viewing instrument called a colonoscope, which is introduced through the anus and guided along the colon.
Colonoscopy is used to investigate symptoms such as bleeding from the anus and to look for disorders such as colitis, polyps, and cancer.
Instruments may be passed through the colonoscope to take biopsy specimens or to remove polyps.
n. an invasive endoscopic procedure for examining the interior of the colon and the terminal ileum. A colonoscope is a flexible, steerable telescopic instrument that houses a high-definition digital video camera to allow direct visualization of the colonic mucosa. It is inserted into the anus and guided around the loops of the large bowel to the caecum and terminal ileum. Its progress may be aided by using an external *3-D magnetic imager (e.g. ScopeGuide). It is possible to obtain biopsies for microscopic examination using flexible forceps passed through the colonoscope (diagnostic colonoscopy) and to remove polyps, dilate strictures with endoscopic balloons, or insert self-expandable metal stents (SEMS) into benign or malignant strictures (therapeutic colonoscopy).
A procedure that links COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY of the COLON (see also INTESTINE) with techniques that produce three-dimensional views of the mucosa of the large bowel similar to those obtained during traditional colonoscopy. Early experience suggests that the new technique produces better results than barium enemas (see ENEMA) and is almost as e?ective as conventional colonoscopy. Virtual colonoscopy o?ers faster results, and image analysis will probably soon be automated. The procedure is easy, non-invasive, safe and complete; once the need for bowel cleansing is eliminated (as seems likely) it will provide a prominent tool in screening for cancer of the colon and RECTUM.... colonoscopy, virtual
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