Advertisement It’s a colon preparation many people find distasteful and disgusting, and it’s dreaded by many who are getting ready for a colonoscopy.
But for most people, there’s no way around GoLYTELY — the colon preparation choice of most physicians before colonoscopy exams, which screen for colon cancer.
“Patients say the prep is the worst part of the exam, and I tend to agree with them,” said Dr. Fr
ank Aberger, a Gundersen Lutheran gastroenterologist.
“I’ve had three colonoscopies, so I’ve been at the other end of it, and my first time I didn’t enjoy GoLYTELY,” he said. “It was the just the volume, and for some it’s the taste, but you can chill it or
flavor it. It’s gotten better each time. I think it helps if you drink a lot of other liquids.”
GoLYTELY often is recommended because it effectively and safely cleans the colon for the colonoscopy, Aberger said. He had his first colonoscopy in his 40s bec
ause his dad had colon cancer.
“If the colon is not cleaned out, then the exam is not valuable,” Aberger said. “In the best hands, polyps are occasionally missed and we don’t want to increase those odds.”
Ed Hammes, 57, of La Crosse, had the first of three colonoscopies at the age of 45 because his mother had colon cancer and his grandmother died of colon cancer. He drank GoLYTELY each time, and he doesn’t think it was that bad.
“You have to get over the psychological hurdle, but once you drink the gallon
of stuff, it is the worst part of the colonoscopy,” Hammes said. “My biggest fear is not getting cleaned out so I’d have to go through another colonoscopy.
“It is a lot to drink, but I found it’s helpful to drink a lot more clear liquids two days before th
e test,” he said.
Hammes said people should not put off a colonoscopy because they may not like the preparation.
“The biggest problem is in your own mind,” Hammes said. “It’s not worth missing colon cancer early. For me, it’s part of aggressively pursuing
a clean bill of health.”
Dr. Gregory Cramer, a Franciscan Skemp gastroenterologist and Hammes’ physician, said he had the first of two colonoscopies at the age of 40 because his father had colon cancer and his grandfather died of colon cancer at age 55.
“I struggled to get GoLYTELY down, especially the third and fourth quarters,” Cramer said. “Having clear candy with it helped me.
“A lot of people have no problem with it, and for some the texture bothers them,” he said.
“I can say the prep is what people least look forward to when it comes to a colonoscopy.”
Cramer said there are two basic types of colon preparation are on the market — polyethylene glycol (GoLYTELY, NULYTELY, COLYTE) and phosphate-based (Fleet Phospho Soda, Visicol, OsmoPrep).
With GoLYTELY, patients drink a gallon in four hours the night before the exam. Some people have less trouble drinking the preparation if they drink half the night before and half the morning before the procedure, Cramer said.
Polyethylene glycol preps replenish the e
lectrolytes lost during cleaning out the colon, he said.
With the phosphate-based preps, Cramer said, patients drink less and take tablets, but must drink plenty of liquids during the day.
Both Gundersen Lutheran and Franciscan Skemp colon specialists cons
ider GoLYTELY as the standard prep.
“You want the colon clean, or you could miss something like polyps, and GoLYTELY works so well,” Cramer said.
Aberger and Cramer said people still are trying to develop a more appealing prep, and a virtual colonoscopy m
ay replace regular colonoscopy — but that still requires a prep.
“Some day perhaps we’ll have high-speed CT scans and possibly with no prep,” Cramer said.
WHEN TO GET A COLONOSCOPY
eir personal physician.
Source: Dr. Greg Cramer, Franciscan Skemp gastroenterologist
Terry Rindfleisch can be reached at trindfleisch@lacrossetribune or (608) 791-8227.
hafiza wrote on May 11, 2007 3:14 PM: