in Norfolk
hopped an
early-morn-
ing flight to
Austin,
Texas, loca-
tion of the
nation's first
colon
hydrotherapy
center, to
undergo the cleanse himself. Here's how it works: You're led into a pri-
vate room and seated on a basin. A sterile disposable nozzle is intro-
duced into your rectum, and a stream of warm water flows into your
bowel, loosening stool. Water continues to flow as you evacuate your
colon. In less than an hour, you're done.
Dr. Johnson flew back later that day convinced about its game-
changing potential for patients who can't tolerate or don't want to
endure a liquid bowel prep. Up to 25% of all colonoscopies are report-
ed to have an incomplete standard prep, but Dr. Johnson says patients
might not always be at fault for failed preps. "We think it's more
involved than that," he says. "The prep selection, prepping instruc-
tions as they relate to different languages and cultures, the tools used
to navigate around the prep — a host of factors impact prep success."
The company that's launching colon hydrotherapy centers across
the country opened one near Dr. Johnson's Norfolk practice (there are
3 others: Austin and Dallas, Texas, and Gilbert, Ariz.). Insurers don't
yet cover the service, so his patients must pay $245 out of pocket for
the pre-procedure cleanse. Dr. Johnson's group also sends patients
with poor preps to the facility in order to salvage that day's
8 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 6
"Preparation for
colonoscopy is evolving
and many experts
recognize the process as
a major contributor to
the quality of the exam."
— David Johnson, MD, FACG
