How often should a colonoscopy be done?

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marip
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Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2019 8:43 am

How often should a colonoscopy be done?

Postby marip » Sat Aug 03, 2019 8:59 am

How often is a colonoscopy recommended for someone that had no polyps detected? I went a couple years ago and no polyps were seen.

weisssoccermom
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Re: How often should a colonoscopy be done?

Postby weisssoccermom » Sat Aug 03, 2019 11:08 am

Unless you have a family history of colorectal cancer OR colorectal polyps, then it is usually every 10 years.
While most people know if there is a family history of cancer, most do NOT know if their family members have had polyps....benign or precancerous. Unfortunately, that isn't something that most family members share nor is it something that most docs routinely ask about.
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betsydoglover
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Re: How often should a colonoscopy be done?

Postby betsydoglover » Sun Aug 04, 2019 4:24 pm

It depends on your situation. Do you have colon cancer? If so, then with no polyps 5 years would be a likely recommendation from your GI doc. If no colon cancer then 10 years is typical. When there are one or more polyps found on scope, then 3 years is not unusual.

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