Virtual colonoscopy is a procedure that is done to look for small polyps or other more serious growths inside your colon. Polyps that grow on the inside lining of the colon may turn into colon cancer. The Cancer Society advises that most men and women begin screening for colon cancer at age 40-50. If you have a family history of colon cancer or are at high risk for other reasons, you may need to have screening even earlier. Virtual colonoscopy every 5 years is 1 of several screening choices.

Procedure overview

Virtual colonoscopy is also called CT colonography. CT stands for computed tomography. A CT scanner takes many X-rays of the colon that are processed by a computer. The computer puts all the X-rays together to create 3-D images of your colon and rectum. These images can then be looked at by your healthcare provider.

Reasons for the procedure

Colon cancer is a common cancer in men and women. The reason for virtual colonoscopy is to find colon cancer at an early stage when it can be treated more easily. Regular colonoscopy is also used to screen for colon cancer. A long, flexible, lighted scope and tiny camera a put into the rectum and up into the colon. This lets the healthcare provider look at the colon directly and remove any polyps that are there. Colon polyps that are found by virtual colonoscopy can be removed with regular colonoscopy before they turn into cancer.

Virtual colonoscopy has some benefits over regular colonoscopy:

• It is less uncomfortable and invasive. It usually does not need to include any pain medicine or anesthesia.

• It takes less time.

• It poses less risk of harming the large intestine.

• It may be used for some people who are not be able to have regular colonoscopy. In certain cases, it may be used in people who have problems such as swelling, bleeding, or breathing problems.

• It may be able to show areas of the large intestine that regular colonoscopy can't reach. This may be the case if part of the intestine is narrowed or blocked.