Hanaro
(하나로의료재단)

Sedation, age, fasting and preparation, as Hanaro’s own document prints them, in English where the document itself is Korean. Where the document prints nothing on a topic, the line says so rather than filling the gap with a general rule.

• Colonoscopy: not available at age 70 and over. M2-PK: not available at age 70 and over, recommended under 40. Sedated endoscopy: not available at age 70 and over.
• Colonoscopy preparation: the powdered bowel preparation is standard; switching to tablets costs 25,000 won. With either one you drink the same 3 litres of water.
• Inside a package the sedation drug fee is free, printed as 0 won. The stand-alone colonoscopy on the add-on sheet carries a sedation drug fee of 30,000 won, charged separately.
• Where a tissue test, a biopsy or a polyp removal is performed, a sedated-endoscopy patient management fee may be charged on top.
• Colonoscopy precautions: anyone taking antiplatelet drugs (aspirin, Plavix, Pletal and the like) or anticoagulants (warfarin, Coumadin, heparin and the like) must consult the doctor who prescribed them and stop taking them from 5 days beforehand. Blood-pressure and heart medication the doctor allows may be taken early on the morning of the check-up with a little water.
• Colonoscopy precautions: anyone on critical medication, such as heart medication after a stent or with a pacemaker, immunosuppressants, or medication for liver cirrhosis, should proceed only after consulting their own doctor.
• Colonoscopy precautions: fasting brings a risk of hypoglycaemia, so do not take diabetes medication or inject insulin on the morning of the check-up.
• Colonoscopy precautions: after abdominal surgery, the examination is possible only 6 months or more later.
• Colonoscopy precautions: anyone booked for sedated endoscopy must not drive themselves. Please use public transport.
• Colonoscopy precautions: nail polish, gel included, blocks the oxygen saturation reading, so it must be removed before you arrive.
• Colonoscopy precautions: at a BMI of 35 or above, sedated endoscopy is restricted because of the risk of apnoea.
• Eating on the day before the examination: for a morning examination eat before 1pm and for an afternoon examination before 7pm, and eat lightly, plain white rice or white rice porridge only, with no side dishes. After that, nothing but the bowel preparation and water until the examination.
• Foods to avoid from 3 days before: brown rice, multigrain rice, black rice and sesame porridge; kimchi, seasoned vegetables such as bean sprouts, mushrooms, and seaweeds such as laver, wakame and kelp; fruit with seeds such as watermelon, Korean melon, strawberry, grape and kiwi, plus corn and nuts such as peanuts, pine nuts and walnuts. Foods you may eat: white rice, white rice porridge and white bread; tofu, fish, plain steamed egg, green tea, sports drinks and clear juice; banana and potato.
• MRI precautions: anyone with severe claustrophobia, and anyone pregnant or possibly pregnant, should confirm on the day whether the MRI can go ahead.
• MRI precautions: anyone with a pacemaker, cerebral aneurysm surgery with a metal clip, a VP shunt catheter, a nerve stimulator, artificial joint or metal prosthesis surgery, an implanted metal device such as an insulin pump, an artificial prosthesis such as a cochlear implant, a metallic foreign body in the eye, or a tattoo containing metal applied within the past week, must confirm with the hospital that performed the procedure whether an MRI is possible.
• Items not allowed into the MRI room: glasses, hairpins, watches, dentures, hearing aids, cards, keys, bras, mobile phones and wigs.
• Morning check-up: eat a light supper before 8pm the evening before. Water is allowed until midnight. During the fast on the day of the check-up, avoid water, juice, chewing gum and tobacco.
• Afternoon check-up: eat a light supper the evening before and fast from midnight. During the fast on the day of the check-up, avoid water, juice, chewing gum and tobacco.
• Where there is a history of surgery or a procedure, some tests may be restricted, so please tell the centre in advance.
• Where a faecal occult blood test is included, collect the sample the day before or on the morning of the check-up and keep it cool. Anyone booked for a colonoscopy should collect it before taking the bowel preparation.
• Where the day includes a urine test, a pelvic ultrasound or a lower abdominal ultrasound, please hold your urine until you arrive if you can.
• Contact lenses should be removed before the visit, because the eye pressure test risks damaging them. Bring your glasses, since corrected vision is what is measured.
• Women: confirm whether you are pregnant or could be before you come. During menstruation the urine test and the cervical smear are restricted, and 4 to 5 days after it ends is better. While breastfeeding, mammography and breast ultrasound are restricted, and are possible only 6 months or more after breastfeeding stops.
• Endoscopy bookings: any medical or surgical history must be declared in advance. Anyone with heart disease, liver cirrhosis, chronic lung disease or another chronic condition must tell a member of staff beforehand. After eye surgery such as LASIK or LASEK, at least 3 months is recommended. Remove nail polish and gel nails before you arrive, since they block the oxygen saturation reading. The examination may be restricted where teeth could be damaged, and may be restricted after a doctor's consultation depending on the blood pressure and ECG readings on the day.
• Under the Narcotics Control Act, sedation may be restricted for anyone who does not provide or does not hold a Korean resident registration number, which the sheet flags for foreigners in particular.
• Age rule for colonoscopy, M2-PK and sedated endoscopy: not available at age 70 and over.