(Personal communication to the Joint Commission on Ambulatory Care, May 1983)

Etymology
The terms colonoscopy or coloscopy are derived from the ancient Greek noun κόλον, same as English colon, and the verb σκοπεῖν, look (in)to, examine. The term colonoscopy is however ill-constructed, as this form supposes that the first part of the compound consists of a possible root κολων- or κολον-, with the connecting vowel -o, instead of the root κόλ- of κόλον. A compound such as κολωνοειδής, like a hill, (with the additional -on-) is derived from the ancient Greek word κολώνη or κολωνός, hill. Similarly, colonoscopy (with the additional -on-) can literally be translated as examination of the hill, instead of the examination of the colon. In English, multiple words exist that are derived from κόλον, such as colectomy, colocentesis, colopathy, and colostomy among many others, that actually lack the incorrect additional -on-. A few compound words such as colonopathy have doublets with -on- inserted. See also
References
Further reading
Gupta S, Lieberman D, Anderson JC, Burke CA, Dominitz JA, Kaltenbach T,  et al. (March 2020). "Recommendations for Follow-Up After Colonoscopy and Polypectomy: A Consensus Update by the US Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer". Gastroenterology. 158 (4): 1131–1153.e5. doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2019.10.026. PMC 7672705. PMID 32044092. Gupta S, Lieberman D, Anderson JC, Burke CA, Dominitz JA, Kaltenbach T,  et al. (March 2020). "Recommendations for Follow-Up After Colonoscopy and Polypectomy: A Consensus Update by the US Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer". Am J Gastroenterol. 115 (3): 415–434. doi:10.14309/ajg.0000000000000544. PMC 7393611. PMID 32039982. External links

Colonoscopy.
The oral doses must be double the intravenous (IV) mesna dose due to bioavailability issues. The oral preparation allows patients to leave the hospital sooner, instead of staying four to five days for all the IV mesna infusions. Mechanism of action
Mesna reduces the toxicity of urotoxic compounds that may form after chemotherapy administration. Mesna is a water-soluble compound with antioxidant properties, and is given concomitantly with the chemotherapeutic agents cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide. Mesna concentrates in the bladder where acrolein accumulates after administration of chemotherapy and through a Michael addition, forms a conjugate with acrolein and other urotoxic metabolites. This conjugation reaction inactivates the urotoxic compounds to harmless metabolites. The metabolites are then excreted in the urine. Names
It is marketed by Baxter as Uromitexan and Mesnex. The name of the substance is an acronym for 2-mercaptoethane sulfonate Na (Na being the chemical symbol for sodium). See also
Coenzyme M—a coenzyme with the same structure used by methanogenic bacteria

References
External links
BC Cancer Agency
NIH/MedlinePlus patient information
Mesna at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)