I am 58 years old, have never had a colonoscopy and my doctor is recommending one for colon cancer screening. I need antibiotic prophylaxis because of mitral valve prolapse with regurgitation, plus the other two valves have regurgitation and the aortic valve is sclerosed. I have a repaired VSD from 1964 and also had a atrial myxoma removed with a septum patch in 2003.
I am allergic to both Penicillin and Vancymycin, however, and my doctor is trying to convince me to have the colonoscopy without prophylaxis, saying there is more danger of colon cancer than endocarditis. The GI who would do the test also says no antibiotic is necessary.
I had a double contrast barium enema 5 years ago and am afraid enough of endocarditis that I'm thinking of saying no to the colonoscopy and only having another barium enema even though it's not as good of a screening test.
I have not been having any symptoms, except for occasional constipation and my stools have lately usually been much darker brown than they used to be. I do have benign hypertrophic papilla which cause bleeding sometimes and so a FOB test wouldn't be of value.
Is a double contrast Barium Enema a good enough screening test to be of value? Has virtual Colonoscopy advanced enough to be better than the BE? Is there some way to have a medicine given along with the Vancymycin to counteract a reaction? Is there another antibiotic besides Penicillin and Vancomycin which can be used as prophylaxis?
I am worried sick over this, it is a very difficult decision.
Thank you for any help.