Endoscopy Consultation & Procedures

New Bowel Preps at Montserrat

For many patients the bowel prep is the most difficult and unpleasant part of the colonoscopy procedure. At Montserrat we offer 4 different bowel preps to cater for individual patients' needs and preferences, including the new "Sodium Phosphate" tablet bowel prep. We have been trialling the Sodium Phosphate tablet prep at Montserrat for the past year and in general it has been well received by patients and doctors. It requires patients to take a total of 32 tablets the night before and morning of the colonoscopy. It is not suitable for certain patient groups such as those over 70 years old or patients with IDDM, heart or renal failure.

For patients who have had significant difficulties with bowel preps in the past, an individual prep can be tailored according to their specific needs. This may require a prior consultation with the proceduralist.

Open Access Patients with BMIs over 35

Montserrat Day Hospitals is licensed by Queensland Health and accordingly we are obliged to comply with their regulations. New Queensland Health regulations state that patients with a BMI of over 35 should not have a procedure carried out at Montserrat Day Hospitals unless prior approval has been obtained from the proceduralist and anaesthetist. In most cases where the BMI is close to 35 and the patient has no significant co- morbidities the procedure will go ahead as planned at Montserrat Day Hospitals after discussion with the Proceduralist and Anaesthetist. In patients with a significantly elevated BMI and co- morbidities, the booked procedure may be deferred and a formal consultation with the proceduralist may be required. (Patients referred just for open access procedure will usually not have any additional out of pocket expense for this consultation).

In high risk cases, for safety reasons, the procedure will need to be carried out at one of the major private hospitals instead of at Montserrat Day Hospitals and we will arrange this.

Pre-Procedure Consultation

Certain groups of patients are not suitable for Open Access Referral and will need a consultation prior to a procedure being carried out. We suggest a pre-procedure consultation for the following groups of Patients:

• Patients with significantly elevated BMI
• Patients over 80 years or under 16 years (Legal Minors)
• Patients with significant co - morbidities such as cardiac, renal, respiratory or neurological diseases
• Patients taking Warfarin or Clopidogrel for cardiac or cerebrovascular disease