Colonoscopy question??

Question

I had an endoscopy and colonoscopy and was given Versed and Demerol (had I known anything about Versed I would probably have refused it). All I know is that I "woke up" fifteen minutes after the procedure began and it had apparently been completed. Now I am concerned because that seems like quite a short period of time to have both procedures done (estimates on the internet range from 40-90 minutes) and I am concerned that the procedures may not produce accurate results. I have been throwing up undigested food eight hours after eating it sometimes and such, and they told me that the endo was normal. I wonder if they even did the endo. There were polyps in my colon, which at least assure me that the colonoscopy was done.

Can someone in the medical profession enlighten me on this matter?

Thanks,

mike d.

Answer 1

These are usually pretty quick procedures as long as there are no problems passing the scope and the patient has a good bowel prep. Having the procedures done at the same time is a common practice and they don't interfere with each other so the accuracy of both procedures is the same. Your symptoms of vomiting undigested food would not necessarily mean that there is an anatomical or structural abnormality that is the cause. So, you could still have these symptoms and have a normal endoscopy. If you were told that your egd was normal then it means that they did the exam, it's illegal to tell a patient and charge them for a procedure that was not done. What you can do is schedule a follow up exam with the physician who did your scopes and ask to see the pictures from the exams (they are taken with the scope) and to go over your biopsy results with you. Normally the patient is given copies of their pictures and pathology reports. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

I don't know where on earth you got 40-90 minutes from, but any Gastroenterologist worth their weight in salt can perform these procedures swiftly and accurately. They really have to, considering the expense of doing the procedures versus what the insurance is willing to pay them. Unless something unusual is identified requiring a biopsie, these procedures are done rather quickly. 15 minutes is on the low end but not unheard of.