Endoscopy

An endoscopy uses a thin, flexible tube with a light and a camera (an endoscope) to look at the lining of your food pipe (oesophagus), stomach and the first part of the small intestine. Small samples (biopsies) can be taken, and some problems can be treated at the same time.

A doctor may suggest it to find the cause of lasting indigestion or heartburn, upper tummy pain, trouble swallowing, vomiting, weight loss, anaemia or black stools. It is also used to check for ulcers, coeliac disease and cancer, to look for swollen veins in the food pipe in people with cirrhosis, and to treat bleeding.

Your letter will say when to stop eating and drinking, often several hours before.

1. Your throat may be numbed with a spray or gargle, and you may be given a sedative through a small tube in your arm.
2. You lie on your left side, with a plastic guard between your teeth.
3. The doctor passes the thin tube through your mouth and down your throat into your stomach. You may gag or feel sick at first, which usually eases once the tube is in the stomach.
4. Air is blown in to open up the stomach, which can make you feel bloated or burp. The tube does not block your breathing.
5. The doctor looks at the lining on a screen. Samples may be taken, which you will not feel, and some problems can be treated.

You can ask for it to be stopped at any time. It is usually over within an hour, but expect a few hours at the hospital.

You rest in a recovery room until the sedative wears off, then go home, often within a few hours. A sore throat, bloating and nausea are common for a short while. After a throat spray, wait about an hour before eating or drinking. After sedation, someone must stay with you for 24 hours, and you must not drive, drink alcohol or sign important papers.

Get emergency care if you keep being sick, vomit blood, are short of breath, or have severe stomach or chest pain that gets worse. For a fever, or black, tar-like stools, contact the hospital urgently.

Serious problems are rare. They include a reaction to the sedative, with breathing or heart problems, bleeding, which is usually minor and stops without treatment, a tear (perforation) in the lining, which may need surgery, and infection.

The doctor or nurse may tell you what they saw before you leave. A biopsy goes to a laboratory, and the result can take from a few days to some weeks. The scope can show ulcers, inflammation, damage from acid reflux, swollen veins, coeliac disease, narrowing, growths and cancer. For many people, nothing worrying is found.

What it cannot show: it looks only at the lining of the upper digestive tract. The large bowel is looked at with a colonoscopy, and other tests may be needed.