Endoscopy can be defined as a test looking inside the body. The endoscope is a tube which is swallowed. This long flexible tube possesses light and camera inside of it. Sometimes it is called as a telescope.
Endoscopy uses include the necessity to look inside of such organs as stomach, duodenum and gullet (oesophagus). With the help of the device the doctor is able to take samples of abnormal looking tissues. Endoscopy uses presuppose having the test as an out patient. The patients have a choice: they can have the procedure while being awake as well as after taking a sedative medication. But it is not recommended to take the sedative in case you live alone and have no one to take care of you after the procedure. In case you live alone but still want to have the operation with a sedative, you may be allowed to stay in the hospital overnight. But it is necessary to discuss it with your doctor as soon as possible because it will require certain preparations. If you choose the operation without a sedative, you will have a spray in order to numb the back of the throat. It will make swallowing the tube much easier.
Endoscopy uses presuppose the use of injections that make the patient drowsy before the test. This is done in case you prefer to be asleep during the procedure. In this situation you will have to take someone to the hospital with you. It is done because you are not able to drive till the rest of the day after the operation, so you are going to need someone to take care of you.
During endoscopy uses patients are not allowed to drink and eat for about 8 hours before and after the procedure so that the duodenum and stomach are empty. Traditionally the doctor gives you written instructions about these details beforehand. Possibly the instructions may arrive with the appointment letter. When coming to the hospital you may be asked to take off the upper clothes and to put on a hospital gown. This is done to avoid making your clothes messy. When you are ready, you go onto the X-ray couch or bed. While you lie, they make a sedative injection which makes you really drowsy. After that the doctor passes the endoscope into your throat down to the area he is to investigate. The doctor asks the patient to swallow as the tube goes down. But if the patient has taken sedative he does not remember it afterwards. If there are abnormalities the doctor plans to take some pieces of the tissue from the area that looks abnormal. He sends the biopsies to the laboratory for a closer inspection under the microscope.
After the procedure you have to rest. If you have taken a sedative you may remember nothing or little about the procedure you?ve just taken. Traditionally patients are able to return home the day of the procedure. It is necessary to mention the fact that endoscopy is used in different spheres: endoscopy in cosmetic surgery and endoscopy in reconstructive surgery.
As for the results, they may come for about two weeks depending on the aim of the test.