Referrals are recommended by your General Practitioner. When you see your GP you are able to choose which specialists you would like to see at the Evolution hospital of your choice.
Clear fluids are anything that can be seen through, i.e. not opaque or cloudy. This does not necessarily mean no colour but highly coloured fluids should be avoided. Examples of clear fluids include: strained chicken noodle soup, black tea, Gatorade, lemonade, ginger ale etc. A more comprehensive list is included on the instruction sheet.
The bowel preparation for a colonoscopy is important to complete because unless the bowel is clear of faecal matter, the test may not be accurate. It is important that all the preparation is finished as per instructions to clear out the furthest part of the bowel.
If vomiting occurs during the preparation phase, please ring the hospital you are being seen at during office hours to check with nursing staff whether anything further needs to be done. You may need to come into the hospital for further preparation earlier than your appointment time.
Staff will advise patients on what medications should be stopped before the procedure. Because biopsies are often taken, drugs that may promote bleeding (e.g. Warfarin, Dabigantrin, Clopidogrel etc) usually need to be stopped days before the procedure. Aspirin or Cartia do not need to be stopped.
All normal medications can be taken four hours before starting bowel preparation or four hours after finishing bowel preparation to allow for absorption. Patients taking oral contraceptives need to be aware that the efficacy cannot be guaranteed due to bowel preparation.
Drugs that are given for the procedure can be detected in breast milk in small amounts. The effect on the baby would be a sedation effect but no danger to the baby. To avoid this, you may wish to express before the procedure sufficient breast milk for 1 feed following procedure, and express and discard the first feed after the procedure.