Gastroscopy

A gastroscopy is a procedure where a thin, flexible tube called an endoscope is used to look inside the oesophagus (gullet), stomach and first part of the small intestine (duodenum).

A gastroscopy can be used to:

investigate problems such as swallowing difficulties, indigestion or Heartburn, tummy pain, anaemia, nausea
treat conditions such as bleeding ulcers, a blockage in the oesophagus, non-cancerous growths (polyps) or small cancerous tumours

A gastroscopy used to check symptoms or confirm a diagnosis is known as a diagnostic gastroscopy. A gastroscopy used to treat a condition is known as a therapeutic gastroscopy.

Dr Chandra Puli has performed few thousand endoscopies over 13years of his Gastroenterology experience with great success as assessed by JAG Quality and Safety Assessment.

Gastroscopy Procedure

A gastroscopy is a outpatient day case procedure and it takes less than 15 minutes, although it might be longer if there is a treatment required.

Before we start the procedure, a numbing local Anasthetic spray is used to numb the back of your throat and you lie in a left lateral position, you can also choose to have a sedative, this gives an amnesia effect to avoid the distress.

The doctor carrying out the procedure will place the endoscope in the back of your mouth and ask you to swallow the first part of the tube. It will then be guided down your oesophagus and into your stomach.

The procedure shouldn’t be painful, but it may be unpleasant or uncomfortable at times.

NJ feeding tube by Nasoendoscopy by Dr. Chandra Puli

Gastric Ulcer

Acid reflux causing narrowing of Food Pipe (Novel treatment with Bougie Cap dilatation)

Risks of Gastroscopy

A gastroscopy is a very safe procedure, but like all medical procedures it does carry a risk of complications. Possible complications that can occur include:

a reaction to the sedative, which can cause problems with your breathing, heart rate and blood pressure
internal bleeding
tearing (perforation) of the lining of your oesophagus, stomach or duodenum

Gastroscopy is used to diagnose conditions

A gastroscopy is also used to help confirm (or rule out) suspected conditions, such as:

stomach ulcers (sometimes know as peptic ulcers) – open sores that develop on the lining of the stomach and small intestine
gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD)
coeliac disease
Barrett’s oesophagus
portal hypertension and Varices
stomach cancer and oesophageal cancer

Treating Conditions (Therapeutic Gastroscopy)

stop internal bleeding inside the stomach or oesophagus, such as bleeding caused by a stomach ulcer or enlarged vein
widen a narrowed oesophagus that’s causing pain or swallowing difficulties – this can be caused by GORD, oesophageal cancer, or radiotherapy to the oesophagus

remove cancerous tumours, non-cancerous growths (polyps) or foreign objects
provide nutrients – a gastroscopy can help doctors guide a feeding tube into the stomach, when a person is unable to eat in the normal way

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