IMPORTANCE OF COLONOSCOPIES IN IBD

IMPORTANCE OF COLONOSCOPIES IN IBD

Risk L9, Testing  V6

No one likes having a colonoscopy or the preparation the day before. But there are important reasons your doctor may need to look at the colon (your large intestine) or just the lower portion (a sigmoidoscopy) depending on your symptoms, where your disease is located and where the problem may be. Your doctor will usually take photos and will often take biopsies (small pinches of tissue to be looked at under the microscope) to get a more complete understanding of the tissue or to confirm what he or she sees by looking.  

The Reasons for Performing a Colonoscopy in IBD

  • To investigate the reason for your symptoms (blood in the bowel movement, anemia, diarrhea or pain) 
  • To make a firm diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
  • To check the disease during a flare (sometimes irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can act like IBD 
  • To determine / monitor how well a medicine is working
  • To see whether IBD has returned after surgery
  • To open a narrowing (a stricture)
  • To check for an infection (particularly C. difficile)
  • To regularly check for cancers

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This article, as well as all others, was reviewed and edited by a member of our Medical Advisory Board.

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