If you have a positive faecal occult blood test (FOBT) result, what does this mean? Firstly, this test tests for microscopic amounts of blood in the stool, as opposed to blood that is visible. This test is used for “screening” of the general population, to identify people at higher risk of having potentially pre-cancerous lesions at colonoscopy. The government’s program in Australia is referred to as the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program.
A positive FOBT is almost always a strong indication to have a colonoscopy performed. Undergoing colonoscopy after having a positive FOBT is much more likely to identify polyps, small growths within the bowel which have the potential to turn into cancer in the long-term. These can generally be safely removed (or excised) at colonoscopy. In addition, if bowel cancer is picked up at colonoscopy after a positive FOBT, it is much more likely to be at an earlier or more treatable phase.
A colonoscopy is a safe test, performed under light sedation in either a hospital setting or day procedure unit. Colonoscopy is almost always performed as a day case, i.e. you do not have to stay in hospital overnight. It is not painful to have this performed, and the vast majority of patients feel absolutely fine after having their procedure performed. Most people will go back to work the next day (excluding those operating heavy machinery, flying aeroplanes, etc).
The cost of having a colonoscopy performed at a private hospital is generally pretty modest or minimal, if you have private health insurance. Those without private health insurance can still have their procedure performed in private, though there will be out-of-pocket fees involved.
