What is endoscopy used to diagnose?

An upper endoscopy is a technique that uses a tiny camera at the end of a long, flexible tube to visually view your upper digestive system. An endoscopy is used by a gastroenterologist (a specialist in digestive diseases) to diagnose and, in some cases, treat disorders that affect the oesophagus, stomach, and first part of the small intestine (duodenum).

Esophagogastroduodenoscopy is the medical name for an upper endoscopy. Upper endoscopies may be performed in a doctor’s office, an outpatient surgery facility, or a hospital.

An upper endoscopy is a technique that is used to diagnose and, in certain situations, treat diseases that affect the upper portion of the digestive system, such as the oesophagus, stomach, and small intestine (duodenum) by Private Gastroenterologist London.

Author: Dr. Sarmed Sami MBChB, MRCP, PGCME, PhD

Consultant Gastroenterologist, Founder and Director of Digestive Health UK.

An endoscopy procedure may be recommended by your doctor to:

Examine the signs and symptoms. An endoscopy will help your doctor find out what’s causing digestive symptoms like nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, swallowing issues, and gastrointestinal bleeding.

Create a diagnosis

An endoscopy may be used to gather tissue samples (biopsy) in order to monitor for diseases and conditions including anaemia, bleeding, inflammation, diarrhoea, or digestive cancers.

Treat yourself

Your doctor will use the endoscope to treat issues in the digestive system, such as stopping bleeding by burning a bleeding vessel, expanding a small oesophagus, cutting off a polyp, or extracting a foreign object.

Endoscopies are often paired with other treatments, such as ultrasounds. To produce specialised images of the wall of your oesophagus or stomach, an ultrasound probe may be connected to the endoscope.

There is blood on the floor

If the treatment requires extracting a piece of tissue for testing (biopsy) or treating a digestive system problem, the risk of bleeding complications following an endoscopy is higher. Such bleeding may necessitate a blood transfusion in rare cases.

Infection is a term that is used to describe the majority of endoscopies consisting of a visual inspection and a biopsy, with a low chance of infection. When extra tests are done as part of the endoscopy, the risk of infection increases. Antibiotics can be used to treat the majority of infections. If you are at a higher risk of infection, your doctor can prescribe antibiotics before your procedure.

The gastrointestinal tract is torn apart

If you have a tear in your oesophagus or any part of your upper digestive tract, you will need to be admitted to the hospital and have surgery to repair it. This complication is extremely rare, occurring in around one out of every 2,500 to 11,000 diagnostic upper endoscopies. Additional treatments, such as esophageal dilation to expand the oesophagus, increase the risk.

By carefully following your doctor’s instructions for preparing for an endoscopy, such as fasting and stopping some drugs, you will reduce your risk of complications.

Wayne Whitehurst