Preventive Screening: Colonoscopy for the Geriatrics Community

This essay examines colonoscopy as a crucial preventive screening test for the geriatric population (65-80 years). It begins by defining colonoscopy, a procedure where a gastroenterologist examines the colon's interior using a colonoscope to detect and remove polyps, thereby reducing the risk of colon cancer. The essay highlights its appropriateness for individuals with symptoms like abdominal discomfort, bleeding, and weight loss, with the test taking 30-60 minutes and requiring repetition every ten years if no abnormalities are found. The primary advantage is the ability to visualize the entire colon and remove tissues samples, although improper procedures can cause bleeding. The essay also discusses the two types of colonoscopy: virtual colonoscopy, which uses CT scans and is less invasive, and traditional colonoscopy, which requires sedation. The essay concludes that colonoscopy is a valuable but costly screening method that helps reduce the risk of colon cancer, with a preference for virtual colonoscopy due to its reduced time and pain. References from various medical journals are included to support the information.

Preventive screening test of
the geriatrics community
population

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Introduction
The paper will discuss one of the specific preventive screening that is faced by the
geriatrics community population. The preventive screening that has been selected for this paper
is a colonoscopy for the geriatrics population whose age ranges from 65 to 80 years. The essay
will demonstrate a brief view of this screening test so that the reader can get a clear idea
regarding its preventive measures.
Main context
Colonoscopy is a procedure that enables a gastroenterologist to evaluate the inside
appearance of a colon (Bibbins-Domingo et al., 2016). This can be done by inserting a long tube
called colonoscope, which is about the finger thickness into the anus and after that the
colonoscope enter slowly into the rectum and lastly into the colon. It is seen that the geriatrics
community population suffer from colon cancer, and for them, this screening test is done by the
physicians. This colon cancer screening test allows the physicians to explore the intestines
through a video camera and remove the dangerous polyps from that part immediately (Meester et
al., 2016). Colonoscopy is appropriate for the geriatrics community population, and this takes
place when they possess some abdominal symptoms such as feeling uneasy, bleeding, weight
loss, and iron deficiency syndrome such as anemia (Schreuders et al., 2015). If all these
symptoms occur in the geriatrics community population, then the physicians do this preventive
screening tests. The preventive test takes about 30 to 60 minutes, and it must be repeated after
ten years if only no abnormalities are found in the colon. If risk has been present in a geriatrics
community individual, then colonoscopy has to be done once in every two years by that person.
The primary advantage of colonoscopy is that with the help of this screening test, the
physicians can view the entire rectum as well as the colon of the geriatrics community
population. In addition, the test also helps them to remove the tissue samples and polyps from the
colon during the exam (Lauby-Secretan, Vilahur, Bianchini, Guha & Straif, 2018). However,
improper colonoscopy procedure can create bleeding at the site where biopsy takes place and
also on the abnormal tissue wall so that it is necessary that the doctor must be careful while
doing this preventive screening tests. In today's environment, colonoscopy is considered as the
pricier screening tests that often exceeds a cost of 1000 dollars (Schreuders et al., 2015). If the
doctors found any fecal occult blood by sigmoidoscopy, then they referred that geriatrics

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community individual to do a colonoscopy. The modern-day colonoscopy techniques often give
a feeling of bloating, cramping, and pressure but the presence of proper medication reduce the
level of pain of the geriatrics patient. The anesthesia used for this preventive screening tests is
considered as conscious sedation, which is safer than any general anesthesia (Issa & Noureddine,
2017). In the current trend, two types of colonoscopy procedure are used by healthcare experts,
and they are virtual colonoscopy and traditional colonoscopy.
Virtual colonoscopy is a technique that generally use by CT (Computerized
Tomographic) scan to form virtual images of the colon that are quite similar to that of the optical
colonoscopy. In virtual colonoscopy, no sedation, as well as intestinal fortitude, is required
because the physicians look at the colon through CT scan (White et al., 2017). In this type of
colonoscopy, only computers and X-rays are used to produce images of the entire colon, and it
directly visualizes on the computer screen which helps the physicians to analyze the current state
of the colon cancer easily. During this colonoscopy, the CT scan produces a cross-sectional
image of the several abdominal organs, which allows the doctors to notice the abnormalities and
changes in the rectum and colon of the geriatrics community population (Brenner, Altenhofen,
Stock & Hoffmeister, 2015). The test takes only 10 minutes, and it is repeated by the patient
once every five years if the risk is present. Besides this, in traditional colonoscopy, sedation is
required for examining the colon part, and due to this reason, it is not generally used by the
physicians. Laxatives are used for this test, and it takes about 30 to 60 minutes for competing it
(Simon, 2016). Hence, it is seen that colonoscopy is one of the useful preventive screening test
of the geriatrics community population, which is used for reducing the adverse impact of colon
cancer.
Conclusion
The paper concludes that colonoscopy is considered as one of the population-based
screening tests that enable the physicians to do their colon investigation properly. It is a costly
technique, but it helps the geriatrics community population to reduce the risk of colon cancer. It
is used for lowering the polyp and tissue samples from the colon. Nowadays, among the two
types of colonoscopy, mainly virtual colonoscopy is used because it takes less time and is less
painful than traditional colonoscopy test.

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References
Bibbins-Domingo, K., Grossman, D.C., Curry, S.J., Davidson, K.W., Epling, J.W., García, F.A.,
Gillman, M.W., Harper, D.M., Kemper, A.R., Krist, A.H. & Kurth, A.E., (2016).
Screening for colorectal cancer: US Preventive Services Task Force recommendation
statement. Jama, 315(23), pp.2564-2575.
Brenner, H., Altenhofen, L., Stock, C., & Hoffmeister, M. (2015). Prevention, early detection,
and overdiagnosis of colorectal cancer within ten years of screening colonoscopy in
Germany. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 13(4), 717-723.
Issa, I. A., & Noureddine, M. (2017). Colorectal cancer screening: An updated review of the
available options. World journal of gastroenterology, 23(28), 5086.
Lauby-Secretan, B., Vilahur, N., Bianchini, F., Guha, N., & Straif, K. (2018). The IARC
perspective on colorectal cancer screening. New England Journal of Medicine, 378(18),
1734-1740.
Meester, R.G., Zauber, A.G., Doubeni, C.A., Jensen, C.D., Quinn, V.P., Helfand, M., Dominitz,
J.A., Levin, T.R., Corley, D.A. & Lansdorp-Vogelaar, I., (2016). Consequences of
increasing time to colonoscopy examination after a positive result from fecal colorectal
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Schreuders, E. H., Ruco, A., Rabeneck, L., Schoen, R. E., Sung, J. J., Young, G. P., & Kuipers,
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White, A., Thompson, T.D., White, M.C., Sabatino, S.A., de Moor, J., Doria-Rose, P.V., Geiger,
A.M. & Richardson, L.C., (2017). Cancer screening test use—United States,
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