Colon

Prevention and Care for Your Colon

The colon or large intestine houses billions of bacteria. When your colon is healthy, these bacteria live in balance with your body, but when your colon is unhealthy, infection or inflammation can occur, leading to more serious conditions such as cancer.

The Georgia Regents Digestive Health Center cares for a number of conditions that can affect the lining of the colon, including:

  • Colon cancer
  • Polyps or small growths, typically precancerous
  • Diverticular diseases, inflamed or infected areas of the colon
  • Colonic bleeding, related to colon problems
  • Inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn’s disease or colitis
  • Chronic diarrhea

Colonoscopies and Other Treatments

The experienced colon specialists at the Georgia Regents Digestive Health Center have completed thousands of colonoscopies. As they travel through a person’s body, our leading-edge scopes allow our physicians to visualize the colon in three dimensions, so that we can get a better picture of the colon’s interior, even where there are loops. This type of experience and technology ensures we are able to successfully complete more than 95 percent of our colonoscopies.

We follow the American College of Gastroenterology guidelines, which recommend that patients undergo a colonoscopy every 10 years, beginning at age 50. Patients with a family history or who are African-American should begin at age 45. Make sure to talk to your physician to find out which screening guidelines are best for you.

We also offer:

  • Flexible sigmoidoscopy. This diagnostic procedure is similar to a colonoscopy but focuses on examining the rectum and the lower, or sigmoid, colon. It’s recommended that patients undergo sigmoidoscopy every five years starting at age 50.
  • Polypectomy. This procedure involves passing a wire loop around a polyp and removing this precancerous or cancerous growth. This can be done in the stomach, small bowel, or colon. Advanced procedures such as saline-assisted polypectomy are also available.
  • Fecal microbiota transplantation. Patients who have a serious infection of the colon caused by Clostridium difficile (C. diff) bacteria that does not respond to antibiotics may benefit from transplantation of stool from a healthy donor. Up to 90 percent of patients with C. diff infection improve with this treatment.

Meet Our Colonoscopy Team

Dr. Sherman Chamberlain, general gastroenterology, director endoscopy

Dr. John Affronti, general gastroenterology/advanced endoscopy

Dr. Sumanth Daram, general gastroenterology/ advanced endoscopy

Dr. Sandeep Khurana, general gastroenterology

Dr. Satish Rao, colorectal disorders, anorectal disorders

Dr. Humberto Sifuentes, inflammatory bowel disease, general gastroenterology

Dr. Charles Spurr, general gastroenterology

Dr. Subbaramiah Sridhar, general gastroenterology/advanced endoscopy

Schedule Your Appointment Now

Schedule an online appointment or call 706-446-GUTS (4887) to speak to a member of our digestive health team.

Learn More

Colonoscopy and Sigmoidoscopy