Home › Information & support › Tests › Common tests › Colonoscopy

What about after the colonoscopy?

You will stay in the hospital until you are awake. When you feel ready to leave, you will need someone to take you home.

Once you have recovered from the sedative you should be able to eat and drink as normal.

You may have stomach cramps for a while because of wind in your bowel. It may help to have warm drinks at home, and to keep walking around.

If the doctor or nurse took tissue samples, you may pass a small amount of blood. This should settle down in a few days.

The hospital will give you a contact telephone number for further advice in case you have any problems.

Are there any risks?

Colonoscopy is a safe test.

Rarely, it can tear the bowel wall. This happens in fewer than one in every 1,000 tests, but patients may need urgent surgery if it does.

A few patients have a reaction to the drugs used to relieve any pain and relax the muscles.

When will I get the results?

A copy of the results will go to the person who referred you for the test (usually your GP or hospital doctor).

Your doctor will arrange an appointment so that you can talk about the test results a few days later. If you don't have a date for this, please ask.

Where can I get more information?

Remember, your doctors and nurses are there to help you. If you have any questions about your symptoms or your colonoscopy, don’t be afraid to ask.

The charity Beating Bowel Cancer has made a video about the colonoscopy test. You may be able to borrow one free from your hospital, or email Beating Bowel Cancer at info@beatingbowelcancer.org.


 

 

Print this pagePrint this page