Gastrointestinal Endoscopy – Lower

Background

Colonoscopy is an endoscopic technique used to visualize the colon for screening, diagnostic, and therapeutic purposes. A sigmoidoscopy allows for visualization of the distal part of the large intestine between the descending colon and rectum. The suffix “-scopy” is derived from “skopía” meaning “to view.” Phillip Bozzini, an early 19th-century German physician, was the first to introduce a primitive scope (“Lichtleiter” or light conductor) to inspect internal anatomy of the larynx, urethra, bladder, and rectum. With time and technologic advancement, colonoscopes became available in the late 1960s with robust advancement noted especially in the last two decades.