What to Expect: Advanced Colonoscopy

Through years of experience, our gastroenterologists have developed expertise in manipulating special tools to help you achieve a complete colonoscopy. If we find any polyps during your procedure, you can relax knowing we remove them right away. We have special expertise in removing large and difficult-to-treat polyps.

Preparing for Your Advanced Colonoscopy (Colonoscopy Prep)

• Before your colonoscopy, you need to clean out your colon (colon prep). Colon prep usually takes one day.
• Colon prep can be time consuming and a little uncomfortable, but it is absolutely necessary for a quick and successful colonoscopy.
• To make your prep successful, you should consume a liquid diet (such as clear broth, black coffee, tea, apple juice, clear soft drinks, and popsicles) the day before your colonoscopy.
• The evening before your colonoscopy and early in the morning on the day of your colonoscopy, you drink a liquid that triggers bowel-clearing diarrhea.
• You should plan to stay home during this process since you will need to use the bathroom often.

Advanced Colonoscopy Procedure

Undergoing an advanced colonoscopy is similar to undergoing a typical diagnostic or screening colonoscopy. For both procedures, doctors use a long, thin flexible tube (colonoscope or endoscope) to examine your colon. However, during advanced colonoscopy, we may use additional specialized tools, including:

• Short turn radius colonoscope: This special tool helps navigate loops, turns, and nonstandard angles in your colon.
• Wide-angled colonoscope: Research shows that this tool helps improve polyp detection rates.
• High-definition colonoscope: A special camera attached to the tip of the colonoscope displays images with exquisite detail.
• Fold-flattening devices: Special instruments smooth out folds of tissue within your colon.
• Full spectrum endoscopy: This endoscope allows nearly panoramic views of up to 330°, compared to 170° views available from traditional tools.
• Specialized techniques for polyp removal: We use specialized techniques and tools to remove challenging polyps.

If we cannot complete your colonoscopy using these techniques, we offer same-day virtual colonoscopy. This test uses imaging technology to examine the full length of your large intestine.