Colonoscopy
Please follow the instructions given by the hospital. This will ensure you have a clean bowel prep as this helps with examination of your bowel when there is no stool to obstruct good vision.
Bowel Prep the day before
- Clear fluids – > 1 cup per hour
- Picoprep at 3pm and 6pm
- Nothing to eat/drink 6 hours prior to arrival in hospital
Risks of Colonoscopy
- 1:1000 Perforation, requiring operation
- Removing polyps increases risk of perforation
- Bleeding, especially if there is removal of polyps or banding of haemorrhoids.
Post Colonoscopy Care
- Do not drink alcohol, smoke, drive, operate machinery or sign any legally binding documents for the full 24 hour.
- You must have someone to take you home and stay with you overnight
- It is advisable that you rest for the remainder of the day, giving yourself time to recover from the procedure. The following day you can return to your normal activities.
- It is not unusual to experience some discomfort in your lower abdomen, this is from the air put inside the bowel to inflate it during the procedure. These wind-type pains and bloating usually pass and settle within a few hours. Try to pass wind as this will help.
- If you have any concern, please contact the number above (during business hours), or present yourself to the emergency department of Hawkesbury hospital.
- It takes 1 week for the results of any tissue removed to come back. Please follow up to check on the results and make further plans for repeat colonoscopy.
