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If you are facing symptoms like stomach pain, digestive tract bleeding, and chronic constipation, your doctor will need to examine the inside of your body. To do so, they will use endoscopy, which involves a flexible tube attached to a light and a camera.
Curious to know more about it? Continue reading.
Endoscopy is a method that is effective in examining an individual’s digestive tract without involving any surgeries. Gastroenterologists who specialise in digestive system ailments utilise the method of endoscopies to identify and occasionally treat conditions that affect the oesophagus, small intestine's beginning (duodenum) and the stomach.
The medical word for an upper endoscopy is Esophagogastroduodenoscopy. An upper endoscopy can be performed at a hospital, an outpatient surgery facility, or your doctor's office.
Endoscopy helps to examine an organ inside your body without making a large incision. Regardless, it can also be used to:
This method examines afflicted joints. A tiny cut near the joint is used to introduce the tube.
A procedure used to look for lung growths or infections. To place the endoscopic tube, surgeons and doctors will make use of the nose or mouth's hole.
This procedure looks at your colon or tailbone. Your anal cavity will be utilised to introduce the tube.
Used to evaluate bladder damage. The urethra will be used to implant the scope.
When there is an issue with the small intestine, doctors will perform an enteroscopy. For this purpose, the scope can be inserted either through the mouth or the anus.
A procedure in which a tube is introduced via the vagina to examine the uterus inside in females.
Doctors will use this method to examine your pelvic or abdominal region in laparoscopy. The tube will be introduced after a brief incision is made nearby.
This is a procedure for larynx examination. For this procedure, the camera tube is inserted through your mouth or nose.
This type of endoscopy is used to examine the mediastinum, which is the space between the lungs. Doctors will make a tiny incision above the breastbone to insert the tube.
Doctors use this method to examine the upper intestinal tract and oesophagus. The mouth is used to insert the scope.
Men can have their ureters examined by ureteroscopy. The urethra will be used to insert the tube.
Tell your doctor right away if you're expecting or if you have any health issues, such as cancer or heart problems. Your doctor can determine whether any precautions are required based on this information and carry out the surgery as safely as feasible.
Additionally, you must inform your doctor of any allergies you may have as well as the prescription and nonprescription medications you are taking. Before the endoscopy, your doctor can advise you to adjust the dosage or cease using a particular medicine.
Make sure you are aware of the procedure's dangers and potential problems. Though they are uncommon, complications can include the following:
To make you feel more at ease during the endoscopy, you'll probably be given a sedative and a narcotic. Because these medications will cause you to become sleepy following the treatment, you shouldn't drive. Make plans to be picked up and driven home by someone. Some medical facilities won't let you have the surgery unless you make arrangements for transportation home beforehand.
The night before the surgery, you shouldn't eat or drink anything after midnight. This includes mints and gum. If your treatment is an afternoon endoscopy, you can normally have clear liquids after midnight for up to six hours beforehand.
An endoscopy can still be uncomfortable, even though you'll be given a drug to make you feel more at ease. Wear comfortable clothing, and refrain from wearing jewellery. Before the process, you will be requested to take off your glasses or dentures.
Don't forget to complete the consent form and any other documentation that your doctor may have asked you to complete. The night before the procedure, complete all forms and place them in your backpack to ensure that you remember to bring them.
It is advisable to take some time off work and to postpone making significant life decisions until you are fully recovered because you can experience some throat irritation.
In comparison to open surgery, endoscopy has a significantly lower risk of infection and bleeding. However, because endoscopy is a medical treatment, there is a small chance of infection, bleeding, and other uncommon effects such as:
For instance, dark-coloured stool, vomiting, and trouble swallowing following a colonoscopy could be red flags. During a hysteroscopy, there is a slight chance of cervical injury, uterine haemorrhage, or uterine perforation.
There's a small possibility that the capsule could become lodged in the digestive tract during capsule endoscopy. People who have a condition like a tumour that narrows the digestive tract are more at risk. The capsule can then require removal via surgery.
Survival Rate of Endoscopic Surgery: The overall survival rate of endoscopic surgery is 97.0%.
You'll receive comprehensive preparation instructions from your doctor. You must refrain from consuming solid foods for up to 12 hours before the majority of endoscopic procedures. Clear beverages like water or juice may be consumed up to two hours before the treatment. With you, your doctor will explain this.
Your doctor may prescribe laxatives or enemas to help you empty your system the night before the procedure. This frequently happens with operations on the GI tract and the anus. Before the endoscopy, your doctor will conduct a physical examination and review your whole medical history, including any prior operations.
Disclose to your healthcare provider about any medications you are taking, including over-the-counter medicines and dietary supplements. Tell your doctor about any allergies you may have as well. If taking certain medications—especially anticoagulant or antiplatelet drugs—could cause bleeding, you might need to stop using them.
Your doctor or surgeon might spray an anaesthetic in your mouth. This drug will numb your throat in order to place the lengthy, flexible tube (endoscope). You could require wearing a plastic mouth guard to keep your mouth open during the procedure.
The endoscope is then put inside your mouth. Your doctor could instruct you to swallow as the scope moves down your throat. Your throat may feel a little tight, but you shouldn't be in agony.
After the endoscope has passed down your throat, you can only produce noises. Moreover, the endoscope causes no breathing restriction.
As the endoscope enters your oesophagus when your doctor inserts it, the following happens:
After the examination is complete, your doctor slowly retracts the endoscope via your mouth. Depending on the patient, an endoscopy might last anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes.
After your endoscopy, the team of doctors and hospital staff will take you to a recovery area where you can sit or rest quietly. You may linger for about an hour. This enables your medical team to keep an eye on you while the sedative starts to take effect.
After an endoscopy, you might encounter a few somewhat uncomfortable indications and symptoms until you get home, like:
With time, these symptoms will become better. Call your doctor if you have any concerns or feel very uncomfortable.
After your endoscopy, relax for the remainder of the day. You may feel alert after taking a sedative, but your reaction times are slowed down, and your judgement is delayed.
Endoscopy is frequently used to assist your doctor in finding the source of any unusual symptoms you're experiencing; remove a small sample of tissue, known as an endoscopic biopsy, for further testing; and assist your doctor in seeing inside your body during a surgical procedure, such as treating a stomach ulcer, removing tumours, or removing gallstones.
Regardless, you should do an endoscopy if you have:
In about a week, you should be able to return to work or school, and in about three weeks, your regular routine. The extent of your surgery and your work also affect this, though. In one to two months, most people return to normal. After your surgery, you must make routine doctor's appointments for three to four months.
The average endoscopic surgery cost in India ranges from ₹1000 to ₹3000. However, the endoscopy cost can vary according to different states.
This is all about the treatment of endoscopy in India. Having prior knowledge of the process can prepare you better for it mentally.