MedicineNet.com
About Us | Privacy Policy | Site Map
November 25, 2009
MedicineNet home Picture Slideshows Diseases and conditions Symptoms and signs Procedures and tests Medications Health and Living Picture Image Collection MedTerms medical dictionary
Font Size
A
A
A

Virtual Colonoscopy (cont.)

My personal approach to recommending virtual versus optical colonoscopies

  • In healthy patients who want all the polyps (including ones smaller than 5mm) to be removed, I recommend optical colonoscopy

  • In patients who do not want to undergo optical colonoscopy and are willing to accept the possibility of leaving small polyps untreated, virtual colonoscopy is an alternative to optical colonoscopy.

  • In unhealthy patients with advanced heart, lung, liver, or kidney diseases, virtual colonoscopy may be a safer and less invasive alternative to optical colonoscopy.

New England Journal of Medicine, October 2007


Last Editorial Review: 10/10/2007




Printer-Friendly Format  |  Email to a Friend


Suggested Reading by Our Doctors
MedicineNet Doctors
  • Colonoscopy - Learn about the colonscopy procedure, what it is, why it is performed, preparation, complications, alternatives and the after effects of the screening exam on MedicineNet.com
  • Abdominal Pain - Learn about abdominal pain (pain in the stomach / abdomen) including causes, symptoms, how abdominal pain is diagnosed, and how abdominal pain is treated.
  • Colon Cancer Screening - Colon cancer screening include colonoscopy, fecal occult blood tests, flexible sigmoidoscopy, virtual colonoscopy, and air contrast barium enema.

Latest Medical News


GI Disorders

Get the latest treatment options.


Are you Depressed? Take the Quiz

Your Guide to Symptoms & Signs: Pinpoint Your Pain












Health categories:

Slideshows | Diseases & Conditions | Symptoms & Signs | Procedures & Tests | Medications | Health & Living | News & Views | Medical Dictionary

Popular health centers:

Allergies | Arthritis | Cancer | Diabetes | Digestion | Healthy Kids | Heart | Men's Health | Mental Health | Women's Health | More...

Publications:

ePublications (PDFs) | XML News via RSS | Audio Podcasts | Email Newsletters

MedicineNet.com:

About Us | Privacy Policy | Site Map | WebMD® | Medscape® | eMedicine® | eMedicineHealth® | RxList®

This website is certified by Health On the Net Foundation. Click to verify. This site complies to the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information:
verify here.

©1996-2009 MedicineNet, Inc. All rights reserved. Notices and Legal Disclaimer.
MedicineNet does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information.