Flexible Sigmoidoscopy

Flexible Sigmoidoscopy at North Downs Hospital

A flexible sigmoidoscopy looks inside the lower part of your large bowel. It is used to confirm whether there are any abnormalities present and also as a general screening tool for colon cancer.

A flexible sigmoidoscopy is a minimally invasive day case procedure that checks the lower part of your large bowel for signs of cancer and investigates symptoms such as persistent diarrhoea, bleeding from your bottom, and constipation. It takes just ten to 20 minutes to perform.

A thin and flexible tube with a camera on the end, called a sigmoidoscope, is carefully inserted into your back passage. Your endoscopist looks at images of your sigmoid colon on a video monitor. They may pass small amounts of gas through the sigmoidoscope into your lower bowel to make it easier to see. The tube is about the thickness of your index finger.

Sometimes small tissue samples, called biopsies of your bowel are taken for analysis.

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