Pouchoscopy is a minimally invasive endoscopic

Endoscopy

Endoscopy means looking inside and typically refers to looking inside the body for medical reasons using an endoscope , an instrument used to examine the interior of a hollow organ or cavity of the body. Unlike most other medical imaging devices, endoscopes are inserted directly into the organ...

 procedure to examine an ileo-anal pouch

Ileo-anal pouch

The ileal pouch-anal anastomosis , also known as an ileo-anal pouch, restorative proctocolectomy, ileal-anal pullthrough, or sometimes referred to as a j-pouch, s-pouch, w-pouch or an internal pouch, is an internal reservoir; usually situated where the rectum would normally be...

, a replacement for the colon

Colon (anatomy)

The colon is the last part of the digestive system in most vertebrates; it extracts water and salt from solid wastes before they are eliminated from the body, and is the site in which flora-aided fermentation of unabsorbed material occurs. Unlike the small intestine, the colon does not play a...

 / rectum

Rectum

The rectum is the final straight portion of the large intestine in some mammals, and the gut in others, terminating in the anus. The human rectum is about 12 cm long...

 which is surgically created from the small intestine

Small intestine

The small intestine is the part of the gastrointestinal tract following the stomach and followed by the large intestine, and is where much of the digestion and absorption of food takes place. In invertebrates such as worms, the terms "gastrointestinal tract" and "large intestine" are often used to...

 (ileum) as a cure for ulcerative colitis

Ulcerative colitis

Ulcerative colitis is a form of inflammatory bowel disease . Ulcerative colitis is a form of colitis, a disease of the colon , that includes characteristic ulcers, or open sores. The main symptom of active disease is usually constant diarrhea mixed with blood, of gradual onset...

 and as a treatment for other inflammatory bowel disease

Inflammatory bowel disease

In medicine, inflammatory bowel disease is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine. The major types of IBD are Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.-Classification:...

s such as Crohn's disease

Crohn's disease

Crohn's disease, also known as regional enteritis, is a type of inflammatory bowel disease that may affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus, causing a wide variety of symptoms...

, a preventative measure in certain genetic illnesses such as FAP

FAP

FAP may refer to:Technology and industry* FORTRAN Assembly Program, the macro assembler for some IBM mainframe computers* Fair Access Policy, a term for a bandwidth cap, limiting Internet usage...

 or HNPCC or as a procedure in the treatment of colon cancer. Typically, a fiber optic camera on a flexible tube is passed through the anus

Anus

The anus is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to control the expulsion of feces, unwanted semi-solid matter produced during digestion, which, depending on the type of animal, may be one or more of: matter which the animal cannot digest,...

. Although it may determine the integrity of the J-pouch (hence the name pouchoscopy), it is much more common to perform a pouchogram to determine the pouch's integrity (a necessary step in preparing for reversal of the temporary ileostomy

Ileostomy

An ileostomy is a surgical opening constructed by bringing the end or loop of small intestine out onto the surface of the skin. Intestinal waste passes out of the ileostomy and is collected in an external pouching system stuck to the skin...

, or takedown surgery). A pouchoscopy is normally part of a routine follow up and is used to confirm diagnosis of pouchitis

Pouchitis

Pouchitis is inflammation of the ileal pouch, which is created in the management of patients with ulcerative colitis, indeterminate colitis, or, rarely, other colitides....

 and cuffitis.