Stomach and colon cancer are two of many common diseases in the digestive system. How to screen for disease and how it is treated, whether it is cured or not, is it life-threatening ... Many questions are asked by the Doctor of Gastroenterology - Endoscopy at City International Hospital specific responses.

 Below are questions guests send on the fan page of City International Hospital and via the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. mail box.

Dear doctor. I heard that gastrointestinal endoscopy is a "miraculous eye" that helps detect gastrointestinal illnesses from infection to cancer. Is that really the case?

City International Hospital: Indeed, endoscopy is currently the most accurate means of diagnosing diseases in the gastrointestinal tract ie in the esophagus of the stomach and colon. Because endoscopy is a direct view through the eye through the camera, all pathologies in the digestive tract are detected such as tumors, ulcers, foreign bodies, mucosal vascular malformations ...

There are usually 3 types of subjects that need to go for colonoscopy, the first is to look for symptoms when you have symptoms, for example, you have bloody diarrhea, stomach ache, swallowing, etc. soi.

The second object is endoscopy for treatment and monitoring. For example, you have a CT scan and find out if you have polyps in your colon.

The third type of healthy, asymptomatic subjects with cancer risk, should undergo colonoscopy to check for early signs of cancer in the stomach and colon. 

I am 41 years old this year. Five months ago, I was sick of shabby abdominal pain on the lower left side, I had gastroscopy, colonoscopy had gastroenteritis (HP negative), had colon polyps down to 5 mm (cut and conclude chronic inflammatory bowel tissue), the doctor gave the medicine to drink, but for 5 months now, he still has pain, belching, abdominal boil, diarrhea. I switched to functional foods but nothing worked. I hope the doctor to help my colon polyps are dangerous or not, how often you should check back.

City International Hospital: Colon polyps are usually benign tumors that develop from the lining of the colon. Formed by the enlargement of the glandular epithelium around a vascular connective axis, usually in the rectum and ligament colon. They look like small pea-shaped tumors, strawberries, cherries ... have long, thin or short stalks attached to the wall of the colon. Colon polyps vary in size from less than 0.25 centimeters to several centimeters in diameter. Some colon polyps can develop into cancer. The risk of malignant degeneration of polyps depends on its size. If the diameter is not more than 5 mm, there is less risk of developing malignancy.

In case you have a colon polyp down to 5 mm (cut and concluded chronic inflammatory bowel tissue). If polyps were cut, local recurrence is relatively uncommon, but polyps appear elsewhere. Therefore, if you had polyps, you need to be monitored more closely, so you should be checked every 6 months. Also you have gastroenteritis. This disease the treatment requires perseverance.

In addition to taking medication, you need to adjust your living habits. You need to eat and drink soft, easily digestible substances, especially the elderly whose teeth and jaws have decreased. Do not eat too sour, spicy, do not smoke, drink coffee, tea, because these stimulants if used in the evening will adversely affect sleep. When sleep disturbances, unable to sleep or sleep little, fluttering, the pain of ulcerative ulcers becomes worse and worse. Should exercise regularly, depending on your health that choose the appropriate method.

Can stomach discomfort be reduced?

City International Hospital: Actually, gastroscopy only causes transient discomfort when the scanner is passed through the oropharynx area. There are many ways to help patients feel more comfortable:

• Stethoscope for anesthesia: Nowadays, anesthesia is widely accepted even with gastroscopy. With a short anesthetic time of 10-15 minutes, a quick wake-up time of 3-5 minutes after the scan, the patient is completely painless. The anesthesia procedure is relatively safe but still an anesthetist is required to perform prior to the exam to ensure no complications occur.
•  Stomachoscopy by nose: The special feature of the nasoscope is that it is very small in size, only about 1⁄2 compared to regular scanners so the discomfort is also much less. Patients may receive nasal vasoconstrictor medication to reduce irritation of the nasal sinuses.
•  Endoscopic capsule may be the least uncomfortable method. However, capsules are rarely indicated in gastric and esophageal pathology.
•  Knowing the procedure carefully, knowing in advance the steps will take place help patients feel secure and less worried. In the case of patients who are children or older people, we can allow relatives to reassure the patient.

What to pay attention to after gastroscopy?

City International Hospital: Patients may rest for a short time before leaving. Do not eat or drink within 1 hour after the scan because the anesthetic is still effective.

Patients may note some common problems after gastroscopy:

• Feeling of sore throat less.
• The abdomen has a slight feeling of bloating.

The doctor will explain the injuries and the nurse will schedule a date for the biopsy results if any. Early biopsy results are important because they are important for an accurate diagnosis.

Endoscopy is still an accurate method for diagnosing gastrointestinal diseases, especially colorectal cancer.

Dear doctor. I am currently 45 years old and would like to see a colon cancer doctor. I heard that the colonoscopy is very simple and can detect the disease. So the doctor let me ask if colonoscopy can detect colon cancer? Thank you doctor!

City International Hospital: Endoscopy is the most accurate means to diagnose colon cancer. Endoscopy is also a means to screen for precancerous lesions that appeared many years before cancer was formed.

I just went to endoscopy using anesthesia but I feel so expensive. While the last time usually endoscopy only over 400,000 that endoscopy anesthesia more than 1 million. Please ask why this difference? Does anesthesia endoscopy detect more diseases than normal endoscopy?

City International Hospital: The price of endoscopy services varies greatly depending on the facilities of the provider, the quality of the scope, sterilization method, anesthesia method, brand ...

Endoscopy using anesthetics or sedatives is quite expensive compared to local anesthesia because it requires more personnel for anesthesia and monitoring, requires more means for monitoring and resuscitation, and is expensive more time, the cost of medicine and medical supplies more, using more utilities such as having to have a bed…. Therefore, the endoscopy with a pre-anesthesia is usually double that of regular endoscopy.

The advantage of preoperative endoscopy is that the patient does not feel uncomfortable, the doctor can observe very carefully because he is not under pressure to finish the endoscopy early because he / she feels it is unbearable. The downside is the high cost and time-consuming, requiring qualified personnel and adequate equipment.

You do not need to have a colonoscopy to retest the HP. Just do tet breath, the accuracy is equivalent to endoscopy.

How to distinguish colitis from digestive disorders and irritable bowel spasms?

City International Hospital: Colitis and irritable bowel spasm are both pathologies of digestive disorders.

Symptoms encountered when colitis: eat strange things, live or cold, then eat in and out always, endoscopy will see abnormal lining of the colon.

Symptoms of irritable bowel spasm: With or without diarrhea, regardless of eating, any cause of irritable bowel, must go to gastrointestinal endoscopy to distinguish.

I have recently had abdominal pain around the navel that spreads to the left and then to the back. Sometimes dull pain, sometimes throbbing, sometimes no pain. The pain is a little above the navel. Or reflux then belching. Every farting is a little bit pleasant, the smell is bad. Stomachache or irritability and desire to have a bowel movement Can I have the colonoscopy or ultrasound done to check for rectal cancer? I am so worried that my doctor can give me some advice. Thank doctor.

City International Hospital: With the symptoms you describe, it is not possible to conclude whether or not you have cancer. However, with such symptoms, it is necessary to eliminate the dangerous disease which is colorectal cancer. So you have to go for colonoscopy. Ultrasound cannot diagnose you have colorectal cancer. Endoscopy will answer whether or not you have colorectal cancer with a very high accuracy of> 95%.

Hello doctor! I want to have a colonoscopy but I'm worried. The doctor let me ask colonoscopy really hurt? How long does colonoscopy last and prepare for the colonoscopy? Thank you doctor 

City International Hospital: Colonoscopy without pain medication is usually painful, although many people find it normal, some feel unbearable.

Today most hospitals use painkillers for patients on colonoscopy, so patients rarely feel pain.

Before colonoscopy, you must take an enema to clear the stool from the intestine. For good quality colonoscopy, it is imperative that the bowel is clean. If the bowel is still full of stool, the doctor may still be able to detect it for you but may not detect the disease. In addition, you must stop some medications and fasting on the day of the colonoscopy.

Dear Dr. I have just had a blood test with CA 72_4 = 17.9 (normal (<8.20 U / ml) so can I be sure that I have stomach cancer? went to the hospital and got scolded by the staff. For More: My family has an intestinal doctor who has lung cancer, an uncle with colon cancer, and an uncle who has lymphoma.

City International Hospital: Cancer indicator tests such as CEA, CA 19.9, CA 72.4 ... are not used to diagnose stomach or colon cancer, because of the sensitivity to detect stomach cancer or The colon is too low.

For example, the sensitivity of CA 72.4 is only about 40%. That is, 100 people with stomach cancer CA 74.2 increased only in 40 people, the remaining 60 people had stomach cancer but CA 74.2 did not increase, leaving 60 people with stomach cancer. In addition, CA72.4 also increased falsely - ie increased but without cancer. You have a family factor with cancer so you need to have a colonoscopy.

Most major general hospitals offer endoscopy services. And which hospitals have good services, you can find out by yourself on the internet, through friends, or on the website of the HCMC Department of Health.

I would like to consult the endoscopic price at City International Hospital. Which Department do I need and where is the hospital address?

City International Hospital has an Endoscopy Department with outstanding service. Especially:

- Treatment of gastroscopy: Treatment of stomach bleeding, duodenum, esophagus, foreign body removal, polyps, stenting treatment of esophageal cancer, stomach and duodenum, opening stomach to skin, Eccentric dilatation treatment of spasticity, dilatation treatment of esophageal stenosis, lumbar obesity treatment.

- Rectal endoscopy - colon treatment: Polypectomy, hemostasis, foreign body removal, hemorrhoids for I-II-III internal hemorrhoids, treatment stents, postoperative stenosis after surgery, posterior dilatation postoperative hemorrhoids.

- Endoscopic cholangioscopy treatment: Taking gallstones, pancreatic duct stones, worms in the bile ducts, treating biliary tract stenosis, placing biliary tract treatment tubes, cutting sphincter to treat biliary obstruction due to vater stenosis, duodenal pouch , cholangioscopy for bile duct removal after cholecystectomy.

You can go to City International Hospital at 3, Street 17A, Binh Tri Dong B Ward, Binh Tan District - Endoscopy Department for advice and examination.

For appointment or more information about medical services provided by City International Hospital

• Operator: (8428) 6280 3333, ext. 0
• Address: No. 3, 17A Street, Binh Tri Dong B Ward, Binh Tan Dist. (Next to AEON Mall Binh Tan). Ho Chi Minh City.
• Website: https://cih.com.vn/en/
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