5 Risk Factors for Missed Colon Cancer or Polyps During Your Colonoscopy

The first and perhaps most important is the provision of adequate bowel

The ability to see pre-cancerous polyps and colon tumors depends on you having a clear colon from residual stools. This will depend on you preparing the bowel preparations as prescribed and drinking plenty of extra fluid during preparation. All you need is to fast from solid for a full day before your exam and drink only clear fluids. If you have a low prep time or have a tendency to constipation, take medications or have conditions that slow down your stomach movements then you may be asked to stop eating solid two days before your exam.

You will be asked to take one of several bowel preparations as directed by your provider. It has been proven that dividing doses (dividing the preparation drugs into two separate doses, usually the evening before the beginning of the exam) attained the highest success rates for adequate colon cleansing. It cannot be further emphasized that no matter what setup you use; everything works best when you drink lots of clear fluids.

Although given instructions on the preparation of the intestine very few individuals fail to comply with these instructions especially drinking a lot of fluids. Some fail to drink enough fluids during preparation or fail to avoid eating before or too late to have sufficient time to clean all impurities and fluids. Patients with insufficient bowel obstruction should be rescheduled for repeated examinations. You do not want to have a half-hearted bowel preparation just to cancel or have incomplete or inadequate colonoscopy that requires repeated examination.

Non-gastroenterological preforming examination increases the risk of unanswered wounds

Multiple studies have confirmed that the risk of polyps and colon cancer is much higher when a doctor other than a gastroenterologist performs a colonoscopy test. The risk of missed polyps was reported as high as 50% when colonoscopy was performed by non-gastroenterologists. If possible, you should specify whether a gastroenterologist performs a colonoscopy or a colorectal surgeon who regularly performs multiple examinations a year. Most gastroenterologists perform more than 1000 colonoscopies a year.

Incomplete tests during your first colonoscopy risk of injury

Failure to reach the colon is a known risk of colon polyps and colon cancer. Inexperienced endoscopists and non-gastroenterologists may fail to reach the cecum but are unaware. Photo documentation of cecum anatomy signs is increasingly being used by endoscopists to document the extent to which the exam is completed. If it's not clear from your report that the exam is complete, you should

Women and older

Some studies show that female gender and older age are independent risk factors for unexplained polyp and colon cancer. If you are a woman or an older person, you should be aware of these risks and will not prevent you from asserting that you have adequate bowel preparation, complete and careful production examination. Some women have more difficult technical examinations than men and older patients may also have significant diverticular disease which makes screening more difficult until an endoscopic experience is important. Older patients usually have many other medical problems that may affect the endoscopic to quickly complete the examination to avoid intra-procedure complications including sedation problems.

Inexperienced endoscopists or those with poor technique or too fast exams

More experienced endoscopists have less injuries than trainers and less endoscopists even when production time is the same. The standard accepted for production time is now six minutes or more. Almost all exams report production time and many endoscopists have found out the average production time associated with their polyps detection rate. The subpar production time and the detection rate of the polyps will be indicative that the endoscopy technique is well below that generally accepted in colleagues. Bad endoscopy techniques are related to endoscopic training as well as the number of procedures performed in the past. Because the number of procedures to improve endoscopic skills is almost always improved

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