CT examination virtual colonoscopy
Plan your appointment
Course of the examination
The examination lasts from fifteen to twenty minutes. No anesthesia is needed and you have relatively little discomfort from this examination.
During the examination, you may keep a T-shirt or shirt on. While you lie on the examination table, a thin tube is inserted through the anus. Through this tube we gradually fill the colon with CO² gas. This is necessary to properly image and view the inside of the colon.
The maximum pressure in the intestine is continuously recorded and the device immediately stops supplying CO² gas when the pressure becomes too high. During the filling of the intestine with gas, the radiologist and nurse are present with you. If you experience pain or other discomfort, you may report it immediately, we try everything necessary to make the examination as comfortable as possible.
During the examination you may experience intestinal cramps. To prevent this as much as possible, you will be given medication that prevents cramps of the colon (Buscopan). Only then will we start filling the intestine with CO² gas. When there is enough gas in the intestine, the nurse slides the examination table into the opening of the CT machine.
Next, we take several images in back and stomach position. The X-ray tube rotates inconspicuously around your body. Also, the table on which you are lying will move forwards and backwards so that we can take images from different angles.
The radiologist who performed the examination makes an initial interpretation of the images during the examination. After the final interpretation, the radiologist sends a report to the doctor who requested the examination. Only this doctor can discuss the results with you.
This examination is only possible by appointment. Please always bring your identity card, your doctor's prescription and any previous radiological examinations. For this examination you must be sober and follow a specific preparation.
Preparation
The examination requires a longer preparation: for 2 days before the examination you have to adjust your diet and take some medication to get the intestines as clean as possible. It is very important to follow this schedule well, because if the bowel is not nice and clean, then the inside of the intestine cannot be properly examined.
Important things that you should mention for a scanner examination: pregnancy, allergy, certain conditions. (see questionnaire to fill out beforehand)
Aftercare
After the examination you can eat and drink as usual. Your body absorbs the CO² gas quickly, so it is out of the intestine quickly and the swollen feeling and cramps disappear quickly.