Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Research Paper

Around the 19th century, experimental procedures and instruments were created to explore and observe the gastrointestinal tract and other orifices. After many attempts and a century later, medical advances in technology has improved the upper gastrointestinal endoscopy procedure where little discomfort is experienced and the procedure is non-invasive. When performing a gastrointestinal endoscopy the following are taken into consideration: preparation for the exam, reasons for the exam, and risk factors of the exam.
All upper gastrointestinal endoscopy exams are normally outpatient procedures performed either at a doctor’s office, hospital, or clinic. In preparation for the exam no food or drinks should be consumed 8 hours prior to the procedure
Along with investigating a patient’s symptoms the procedure it used to identify ulcers, cancer, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), inflammation or swelling, anemia and through biopsy samples, diagnose cancer, celiac disease, and gastritis. In some instances, the procedure will be used to treat bleeding ulcers with an electrical probe which will stop the bleeding, dilate strictures with a small balloon passed through the endoscope, and remove objects or food that maybe stuck in the upper gastrointestinal tract. The overall objective for the gastrointestinal endoscopy is so that the doctor can look at the lining of the patient’s esophagus, stomach, and duodenum for normal or abnormal findings. In order to perform an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy an endoscope will be used. An endoscope is a long flexible tube with a light and camera at the end of it, which sends visual feed back to a monitor. In order to obtain biopsy samples or stop bleeding, tiny tools are passed through the endoscope. Before the endoscope is inserted into the patient’s esophagus, they will be instructed to gargle a liquid anesthetic to suppress their gag reflex. Through out this procedure, the patient will be intravenously sedated while their vitals are being monitored. The patient is normally awake during the procedure but they can also sleep through it if they wanted