Here are five insights into the issue:
1. Patients looking to avoid opioids have several options when seeking a colonoscopy.
2. Although it increases discomfort slightly, patients can forgo pain medication completely during colonoscopies.
3. If a patient opts to forgo pain medication, an IV line can be placed before the procedure starts in case the pain becomes intolerable.
4. Physicians can also perform a colonoscopy under monitored anesthesia care, using non-narcotic pain medication.
5. Certain patients without a family history of CRC can seek out a noninvasive CRC screening test such as a stool DNA test or a virtual colonoscopy, foregoing a traditional colonoscopy altogether.
More articles on gastroenterology:
Medical Facilities Corp.’s new $150M credit line could fuel acquisitions — 3 insights
Olean General Hospital refuses to ‘pay millions of dollars more than necessary’ for local anesthesia provider — 5 insights
‘The best screening test is the one that gets done:’ 5 Qs with professional golfer Tom Lehman, CRC survivor
