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There are several potential advantages of a virtual colonoscopy including safety and acceptability. But a recent study confirms the procedure is not yet proven. Virtual colonoscopy is the coward's dream. It's getting the inside of your large bowel checked for cancer without needing the black snake - the real colonoscope. The technique still involves cleansing the colon - sorry you can't get out of that, distending it and then having a CAT scan. There are several potential advantages including safety and acceptability. Entrepreneurs have jumped on this by offering virtual colonoscopy either by itself or as part of whole body scanning, which you might have heard me dumping on - to use an unfortunate phrase - in the past. The problem is that virtual colonoscopy is not yet proven and a recent study confirms this. They compared ordinary colonoscopy using the flexible scope with the CT scanning in over 600 people aged over 50. Each person had both tests. Between 50 and 60 per cent of polyps and tumours of a reasonable size were missed by the virtual colonoscopy compared to between four and 10 per cent with the regular examination. Worryingly virtual testing missed two out of eight cancers. The quality of testing varied alot and didn't seem to improve over time. Once technical issues have been solved the technique should become more reliable - but don't abandon the black snake just yet.
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