My mother is 94 and just had a ct scan. The CT was negative. Her doctor wants to perform colonoscopy but there is a big concern with possible rupture of the colon because of her age. 7 years ago they found polyps in her colon but i m not sure where. She has blood in her stools and is also losing blood internally with low iron counts. What are the risks of going ahead with the colonoscopy? Are there alternative procedures that would be help to find source of internal bleeding?
Hello, Colonoscopy is a risky procedure at this age. As you said there is a high chance of deadly complications like colon perforation and even cardiac complications like sudden cardiac arrest. If she is still having symptoms like bleeding per rectum, you can opt for non-invasive techniques like nucleotide scan etc. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.