Endoscopy

An endoscopy is a test that looks inside the body. The endoscope is a long flexible tube that you swallow. It has a tiny camera and light on the end of it. The diagram shows an endoscopy looking at the food pipe (oesophagus) and stomach.

You are most likely to have an endoscopy to look at the inside of your

• Food pipe (oesophagus)
• Stomach
• Duodenum – the first part of the small bowel that attaches to the stomach
• Large bowel (colon)

This test can show what is wrong if you have abnormal bleeding, indigestion or difficulty swallowing. A doctor or specialist nurse can look down the endoscope and see if there are any growths or other abnormal looking areas. Through the endoscope, the doctor or nurse can also take samples (biopsies) of any abnormal looking tissues.

Below is information about having an endoscopy of the gullet, stomach or small bowel (duodenum).There is detailed information about having a colonoscopy (an endoscopy of the bowel) in the bowel cancer section.

You can have this test as an outpatient. A nurse will be there to support you throughout the procedure. Most people have a choice between having the test while they are awake, or after having a medicine to make them drowsy (a sedative). Your hospital may not be happy for you to have a sedative if you live alone and have no one to look after you when you go home. If you live alone but really want sedation, your hospital may allow you to stay overnight.

If you don't have a sedative, you will have a spray to numb the back of your throat and make it easier for you to swallow the endoscopy tube.

If you would prefer to be asleep during the test, you will have an injection to make you very drowsy just before the test. You will need to take someone with you to the hospital appointment. You won't be able to drive for the rest of the day and should have someone to go home with you.

You can't eat or drink for about 6 to 8 hours before the test so that your stomach and duodenum are empty. Your doctor or nurse will give you written instructions about this beforehand, or they may arrive with your appointment letter. When you get to the clinic, you may be asked to take your upper clothing off and put on a hospital gown. Once you are ready, you get onto the bed or X-ray couch. When you are lying comfortably you have the sedative injection to make you very drowsy. Or your doctor or nurse will spray the back of your throat to numb it.

Once the sedative or throat spray has worked, the doctor or nurse endoscopist will pass the endoscope tube down your throat to the area they want to look at. They will ask you to swallow as the tube goes down, but if you've had a sedative, you won't remember that afterwards. If there are any abnormal areas, the doctor or nurse will take pieces of tissue (biopsies) from them to send to the laboratory for examination under a microscope.

When the test is over you will need to rest for a while. If you've had a sedative, you may not remember much (if anything) about the test once you have come round. You should be able to go home the same day.

It can take time for test results to come through especially after a biopsy. How long will depend on why you are having the test but it may be a couple of weeks. Usually, the doctor or nurse who carries out the endoscopy dictates a report straight way. The report is typed up and sent to your specialist, who gives the results to you. If your GP has sent you for the test, the results will be sent directly to the GP surgery.

Understandably, waiting for results can make you anxious. Try to remember to ask your doctor or nurse how long you should expect to wait for the results when you are first asked to go for the test. If it is not an emergency, and you have not heard a couple of weeks after your test, ring your GP's secretary to check if the results are back.