Endoscopy In Chiang Mai

[chiang mai]

Wrap Up:

In the end I decided to go with RAM and had it done yesterday and the bill came in at THB 22,400 for both upper and lower under IV sedation (love that stuff). Dr Jaruwat Yossombat is the man, thirty something, excellent English, focused and well regarded.

Can highly recommend the exam if you're over 50 and never had one, it's completely painless without ant discomfort whatsoever, the six hours or so before hand however are spent mostly in the bathroom emptying the bowels which is mostly very boring. On that note, the laxative called SWIFF made by Berlin is absolutely foul tasting, you would have thought that in this day and age a pharmaceutical manufacturer would be able to doctor the taste somewhat to make it at least a little bit palatable but I guess not in this case, sad.

[uptheos]

Wrap Up:

In the end I decided to go with RAM and had it done yesterday and the bill came in at THB 22,400 for both upper and lower under IV sedation (love that stuff). Dr Jaruwat Yossombat is the man, thirty something, excellent English, focused and well regarded.

Can highly recommend the exam if you're over 50 and never had one, it's completely painless without ant discomfort whatsoever, the six hours or so before hand however are spent mostly in the bathroom emptying the bowels which is mostly very boring. On that note, the laxative called SWIFF made by Berlin is absolutely foul tasting, you would have thought that in this day and age a pharmaceutical manufacturer would be able to doctor the taste somewhat to make it at least a little bit palatable but I guess not in this case, sad.

Glad everything turned out OK for you - the price is reasonable.....thanks for the feedback.

Just thinking of Swiff makes me start to gag.

Did you get a CD?

[chiang mai]

Wrap Up:

In the end I decided to go with RAM and had it done yesterday and the bill came in at THB 22,400 for both upper and lower under IV sedation (love that stuff). Dr Jaruwat Yossombat is the man, thirty something, excellent English, focused and well regarded.

Can highly recommend the exam if you're over 50 and never had one, it's completely painless without ant discomfort whatsoever, the six hours or so before hand however are spent mostly in the bathroom emptying the bowels which is mostly very boring. On that note, the laxative called SWIFF made by Berlin is absolutely foul tasting, you would have thought that in this day and age a pharmaceutical manufacturer would be able to doctor the taste somewhat to make it at least a little bit palatable but I guess not in this case, sad.

Glad everything turned out OK for you - the price is reasonable.....thanks for the feedback.

Just thinking of Swiff makes me start to gag.

Did you get a CD?

CD? I got a DVD with Dolby surround sound and Thai/English subtitles and it'll be in the shops shortly!

[uptheos]

Wrap Up:

In the end I decided to go with RAM and had it done yesterday and the bill came in at THB 22,400 for both upper and lower under IV sedation (love that stuff). Dr Jaruwat Yossombat is the man, thirty something, excellent English, focused and well regarded.

Can highly recommend the exam if you're over 50 and never had one, it's completely painless without ant discomfort whatsoever, the six hours or so before hand however are spent mostly in the bathroom emptying the bowels which is mostly very boring. On that note, the laxative called SWIFF made by Berlin is absolutely foul tasting, you would have thought that in this day and age a pharmaceutical manufacturer would be able to doctor the taste somewhat to make it at least a little bit palatable but I guess not in this case, sad.

Glad everything turned out OK for you - the price is reasonable.....thanks for the feedback.

Just thinking of Swiff makes me start to gag.

Did you get a CD?

CD? I got a DVD with Dolby surround sound and Thai/English subtitles and it'll be in the shops shortly!

Alright DVD or whatever.

The reason I ask is that a friend had this procedure at Ram and afterwards the doctor showed him the whole procedure on TV and where he biopsied etc. Then he gave him a DVD to keep.

[chiang mai]

Wrap Up:

In the end I decided to go with RAM and had it done yesterday and the bill came in at THB 22,400 for both upper and lower under IV sedation (love that stuff). Dr Jaruwat Yossombat is the man, thirty something, excellent English, focused and well regarded.

Can highly recommend the exam if you're over 50 and never had one, it's completely painless without ant discomfort whatsoever, the six hours or so before hand however are spent mostly in the bathroom emptying the bowels which is mostly very boring. On that note, the laxative called SWIFF made by Berlin is absolutely foul tasting, you would have thought that in this day and age a pharmaceutical manufacturer would be able to doctor the taste somewhat to make it at least a little bit palatable but I guess not in this case, sad.

Glad everything turned out OK for you - the price is reasonable.....thanks for the feedback.

Just thinking of Swiff makes me start to gag.

Did you get a CD?

CD? I got a DVD with Dolby surround sound and Thai/English subtitles and it'll be in the shops shortly!

Alright DVD or whatever.

The reason I ask is that a friend had this procedure at Ram and afterwards the doctor showed him the whole procedure on TV and where he biopsied etc. Then he gave him a DVD to keep.

That sounds like just the job for those cold winter evenings, sat in front of a raging fire drinking cocoa with your loved one and watching My Colonoscopy, goodness, you could even invite the neighbors round to join in the fun.

[jackr]

I had them look deep into both ends at the same time while I was out at Ram. No complaints whatever. As I recall the whole thing (OR, anesthesiologist, lab, meds etc.) was about 20k.

Interesting, a sort of spitroast, if you will.

Seem to remember doc at Sripat quoting 10-12k for a GI throat jobby a year ago.

[uptheos]

That sounds like just the job for those cold winter evenings, sat in front of a raging fire drinking cocoa with your loved one and watching My Colonoscopy, goodness, you could even invite the neighbors round to join in the fun.

OK I'm obviously not going to get a straight answer. The point is it can be shown to another doctor at a later stage, if you move on or have any problems.

[chiang mai]

That sounds like just the job for those cold winter evenings, sat in front of a raging fire drinking cocoa with your loved one and watching My Colonoscopy, goodness, you could even invite the neighbors round to join in the fun.

OK I'm obviously not going to get a straight answer. The point is it can be shown to another doctor at a later stage, if you move on or have any problems.

Os, is having a sense of humor lapse this morning so we'll be straight.

Yes Os, I was given a CD of the event and you can come round and watch it any time.

[Mapguy]

Why do we have to wait?! Please post while I pop some corn!

[Lifer]

I had mine done by Professor Kannika at Rajavej two years ago, it was an OK experience.

I understand at Ram you get a CD of the endoscopy as well, not sure if Rajavej have started doing it.

Edit: Dr. Kannika Phornphutkul, Professor Emeritus and the vice president of Rajavej Hospital.

Had lower done at Ram. Did not get CD. Maybe I broke the machine. They did take a lot of films and the price was very reasonable. My Thai wife had her stomach scoped and colon test done with 7 polyps removed at Sirpat. The Dr was excellent and spoke perfect English. He claimed the two tests were the most reasonable in town. The price was quite low, but excellent work.

[jsflynn603]

A suggestion for anyone considering endoscopy in Asia: Get the Hepatitis A immunization series first.

This is not a slur against Thai or Asian hospitals per se. I've seen how difficult it is to truly decontaminate endoscopes in America even by properly trained techs using good protocols. Considering this, and considering that Hep A is endemic in Asia (it is not in America though probably in 30 years it will be) it is very cheap insurance. While most people who contract Hep A have only minor issues, for a percentage it can cause major issues and death. The risks of immunization are, in my opinion, far, far lower than the benefit.

I'll even expand that to anyone intending to live or travel extensively in Asia should consider the Hepatitis A immunization series.

[uptheos]

A suggestion for anyone considering endoscopy in Asia: Get the Hepatitis A immunization series first.

This is not a slur against Thai or Asian hospitals per se. I've seen how difficult it is to truly decontaminate endoscopes in America even by properly trained techs using good protocols. Considering this, and considering that Hep A is endemic in Asia (it is not in America though probably in 30 years it will be) it is very cheap insurance. While most people who contract Hep A have only minor issues, for a percentage it can cause major issues and death. The risks of immunization are, in my opinion, far, far lower than the benefit.

I'll even expand that to anyone intending to live or travel extensively in Asia should consider the Hepatitis A immunization series.

There are dangers with having a colonoscopy, as it appears that it's not possible to entirely sterilise the scope. Like any other procedure you have to weigh up the benefits versus the risk - how important is the procedure.......only you in consultation with your Dr. can decide.

Referring the previous posters claim, just google; can you get Hepatitis A from colonoscopy?

[chiang mai]

A suggestion for anyone considering endoscopy in Asia: Get the Hepatitis A immunization series first.

This is not a slur against Thai or Asian hospitals per se. I've seen how difficult it is to truly decontaminate endoscopes in America even by properly trained techs using good protocols. Considering this, and considering that Hep A is endemic in Asia (it is not in America though probably in 30 years it will be) it is very cheap insurance. While most people who contract Hep A have only minor issues, for a percentage it can cause major issues and death. The risks of immunization are, in my opinion, far, far lower than the benefit.

I'll even expand that to anyone intending to live or travel extensively in Asia should consider the Hepatitis A immunization series.

There are dangers with having a colonoscopy, as it appears that it's not possible to entirely sterilise the scope. Like any other procedure you have to weigh up the benefits versus the risk - how important is the procedure.......only you in consultation with your Dr. can decide.

Referring the previous posters claim, just google; can you get Hepatitis A from colonoscopy?

I'm afraid it will not be possible to convince me that endoscopes cannot be sterilized as a matter of course, sorry.

[cloudhopper]

There's a lot worse bugs than hep A lurking about in hospitals everywhere in the world, and you could get any of them from an unsterile scope. And hep A is real easy to get from prepared food anyway.

[uptheos]

I'm afraid it will not be possible to convince me that endoscopes cannot be sterilized as a matter of course, sorry.

Don't be sorry to me, I'm not trying to convince you of anything.

You will see that I have had a colonoscopy here.

[Flatouthruthefog]

What kind of endoscopy? GI?

Back endoscopy, of course.

[chiang mai]

What kind of endoscopy? GI?

Back endoscopy, of course.

There are many types of endoscopy available, regrettably there's not one for the back.

[jsflynn603]

"I'm afraid it will not be possible to convince me that endoscopes cannot be sterilized as a matter of course, sorry"

You are pleased to do and believe as you wish, and as Cloudhopper noted, Hep A is easily transmitted (fecal>oral route) by improperly prepared food, the reason that I mentioned that anyone living or staying an extended period of time in Asia would be wise to consider the vaccination series.

Endoscopes are complex. They are component parts assembled together. Of course there are seals, and I have had the misfortune of seeing photographs of ones in for repair, in an unassembled state, with evidence of gross contamination that had leaked behind the seals. The endoscopes are soaked in a sterilizing fluid, one would hope that would be adequate, but in fact, it is not always adequate.

Perhaps you might care to look at this:

http://www.annals.or.../2/117.abstract

Although this small study notes only one case of Hepatitis A transmission consider that in America a very tiny percentage of the population are infected with Hepatitis A, in Asia, most people are or have been infected.

While it is true that there are "worse bugs" in the hospital, this is one that is endemic in Asia, very easily transmitted, which can cause severe anguish in some, death in others, and is virtually 100% preventable by vaccination. Vaccination is a personal decision, this was simply an attempt to share what I know.

[cloudhopper]

anyone living or staying an extended period of time in Asia would be wise to consider the vaccination series.

Good advice and I need to follow it myself.

[chiang mai]

"I'm afraid it will not be possible to convince me that endoscopes cannot be sterilized as a matter of course, sorry"

You are pleased to do and believe as you wish, and as Cloudhopper noted, Hep A is easily transmitted (fecal>oral route) by improperly prepared food, the reason that I mentioned that anyone living or staying an extended period of time in Asia would be wise to consider the vaccination series.

Endoscopes are complex. They are component parts assembled together. Of course there are seals, and I have had the misfortune of seeing photographs of ones in for repair, in an unassembled state, with evidence of gross contamination that had leaked behind the seals. The endoscopes are soaked in a sterilizing fluid, one would hope that would be adequate, but in fact, it is not always adequate.

Perhaps you might care to look at this:

http://www.annals.or.../2/117.abstract

Although this small study notes only one case of Hepatitis A transmission consider that in America a very tiny percentage of the population are infected with Hepatitis A, in Asia, most people are or have been infected.

While it is true that there are "worse bugs" in the hospital, this is one that is endemic in Asia, very easily transmitted, which can cause severe anguish in some, death in others, and is virtually 100% preventable by vaccination. Vaccination is a personal decision, this was simply an attempt to share what I know.

I think what's being said here is that endoscopes can be cleaned, sometimes the cleaning process becomes incomplete (presumably through human error rather than by design of the technology) and that as a result, endoscope to person transmission of bacteria becomes possible, the question is, what sort of numbers are involved here. Off the top of my head it would seem that the number of transmission cases is really quite small when taken as a percentage of the total number of colonoscopies performed and therefore probably falls into a similar category of risk as many other medical instruments? Your point re vaccinations however is very sound advice.

[Radharani]

How much gastroscopy in Chiang Mai?