The flexible fiberoptic colonoscope was introduced in the early 1970s and quickly became an established diagnostic procedure for pediatric patients. If your child needs a diagnosis, evaluation, or treatment for large bowel disease, call or make an appointment online today at one of the seven locations of The Center for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition throughout Illinois.
request an appointmentWhat is a colonoscopy?
A colonoscopy is a test the doctors at The Center for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition use to better understand your child’s medical issue. Colonoscopies allow the doctors to look inside your child’s rectum, large intestine, lower end of the small intestine, and bowel.
Colonoscopies enable doctors at The Center for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition to look for:
- Swelling
- Ulcers
- Bleeding
- Polyps
Colonoscopies also allow your child’s doctor to test for infection and help determine the cause of your child’s discomfort.
Why does your child need a colonoscopy?
The doctors at The Center for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition perform colonoscopies to diagnosis and treat lower gastrointestinal disorders.
The most common conditions that lead your child’s doctor to schedule a colonoscopy include:
- Blood in feces
- Chronic or unexplained diarrhea
- Abdominal pain (to make sure it isn’t due to intestinal inflammation)
- Follow-up exam involving a chronic condition in the lining of your child’s intestine
How is a colonoscopy performed?
Before your child’s colonoscopy, the doctor instructs you on how to clean out your child’s colon. He or she needs to take oral medication (magnesium citrate) up to two days before the procedure and drink lots of clear liquids.
Once he or she has taken the medication, your child shouldn’t consume any solid food or drink any liquids that aren’t translucent until after the colonoscopy.
On the day of your child’s colonoscopy, he or she should refrain from drinking entirely for at least two hours before the procedure as most children who undergo a colonoscopy receive a general anesthetic to enable them to sleep through the operation.
The doctor from The Center for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition who performs your child’s colonoscopy uses a high-quality video chip that works like a camera. It sends pictures through a thin, bendable tube called an endoscope.
The endoscope goes through your child’s anus and extends up into the rectum and large intestine. The doctor will also collect tissue samples for testing.
What happens after a colonoscopy?
Once your child’s colonoscopy is finished, the doctor informs you of the findings. Biopsy results become available at your child’s follow-up visit to The Center for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition.
Children usually awaken within two hours of completion of the colonoscopy. Once your child is awake and has consumed liquids, he or she is free to go home. At this time, your child may resume eating as usual.
To find out if a colonoscopy is right for your child, call or make an appointment online today at one of the seven locations of The Center for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition in the Southern and Western Chicago suburbs.