Colonoscopy after abdominal surgery? Kaiser rec?
My husband is of the age to have his first colonoscopy - but I am concerned because when he was 5 he was hit by a car and had major internal bleeding and surgery. This happened in another country so we have no medical records to show what was done, but he has a huge scar up and down his abdomen from the surgery and he remembers that it was very severe and he almost died. His GP doesn't seem phased by this info, but says to mention it to the department prior to the procedure. In reading about colonoscopy after abdominal surgery it is contraindicated if there was colonic perforation, which we guess is part of what happened. Does anyone have a similar experience or thoughts about this, and beyond, does anyone have a Kaiser Gastroenterologist they would recommend? Thanks BPN community!
Parent Replies
The results with a yearly stool blood test are almost as good as with a colonoscopy. You might want to look that up and talk to the doctor.
You could consider doing the fecal test (usually it's with some new technology looking for tumor DNA ,now...) instead. I am a physician and I'd be a bit concerned too, in your situation. Another alternative would be to email you husband's Kaiser doctor and just nicely explain that you are worried and ask for a consultation (clinic visit) with one of the physicians (or nurse practitioner, or PA, etc.) in the GI department before your husband decides whether to try to do a colonoscopy. He could have had other abdominal injuries (such as a ruptured spleen with bleeding, for example) that might not necessarily make a colonoscopy more dangerous. However, if he did have damage to the colon itself and had repairs/cutting and sewing to the colon, that could be an issue...GI is not my area but I am trained in internal medicine, and I'd be nervous about sending such a person for colonoscopy without him having seen the GI doc to consult...Kaiser is pretty good insurance but sometimes they tend to have a bit of a one size fits all mentality and you may have to push a little to get anything more than the standard/generic treatment and recommendations.
Hi - I am a retired MD.You are correct that severe intestinal scarring increases the risk of colonoscopy. The good news, though NOT widely known because colonoscopy has been pushed hard by industry, is that a good, reliable test for blood in the stool, if done annually (which is easy to do and simple) is as good as a colonoscopy for cancer screening. I know an international research expert in the field works at Kaiser. Actually everyone with average risk should use the stool test instead of colonoscopy: safer for everyone and saves everyone's health care dollar, no anesthesia required. You need to do it once a year - make it easy to remember: every January 1 send an email to your MD to give you the test which I think you can pick up in the lab. Not sure if MD can order it mailed to you or not.
If you have Kaiser, when you hit 50 they will mail you the fecal blood test, and then send you frequent reminders until you return it by mail. It's super easy and involves your toilet, not your body. As long as it is negative you do not need to get a colonoscopy. Repeat next year. Of course if you have a family history of colon cancer or any other red flags they will want you to have a colonoscopy, but as long as you pass the yearly test, you just keep doing that every year. They mail it to you automatically, and bug you until you send it back to them. My husband flunked his fecal blood test the very first time he took it when he hit 50, so he did have to go in for a colonoscopy. Turned out he had a benign polyp that had to be surgically removed. So now he has to get a colonoscopy every couple years. But I only have to do the fecal thing every year. Hope it's the same for you!