Living With Crohns Disease

The normal colonoscopy involves inserting a camera into the rectum to look at the patient’s colon. During a virtual colonoscopy a CT machine takes images of the abdomen so that a physical camera does not need to be present inside the patient.

Preparation for the virtual colonoscopy is usually the same as the methods used for the conventional procedure. Read about them here.

A thin tube is inserted into the patient’s rectum to introduce air that expands the colon and stretches the lining so that any damage or abnormalities can be more readily viewed. Whereas a traditional colonoscopy can take up to an hour to complete, a virtual colonoscopy takes only 10 to 15 minutes.

Virtual colonoscopy may be a favorable option for those living with crohns disease for the same obvious reasons it would be for anyone else, but also due to the fact that even a brief period of time in which the digestive system is put under any kind of stress or abnormal conditions becomes that much more detrimental when nutrition is of utmost importance, as it is in the Crohns patient.