What are flexible sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy?
Flexible sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy are endoscopic procedures that allow doctors to examine the lining of the large intestine. In both procedures, the physician inserts a flexible tube known generically as an endoscope through the anus. The doctor is able to move this tube through the gut to view the mucosal lining of the intestines. This also enables him to take tiny samples of the lining using a forceps passed through the endoscope. These samples (called biopsies) can then be viewed under a microscope by a pathologist. Examination of these biopsies by a pathologist is particularly helpful in making the distinction between CD and UC and also for detecting the early evidence of cancerous change indicated by dysplasia. Flexible sigmoidoscopy is an endoscopic procedure done without sedation which examines the rectum, sigmoid colon and often a little bit more of the colon reaching as far as the splenic flexure (the bend at which point the descending colon and transverse colon meet). Co
