Endoscopic procedures
Endoscopy is the examination of the digestive tract from the inside, using a thin flexible instrument with a camera at its tip. The pages below explain how each procedure is performed.
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Gastroscopy
Gastroscopy is the procedure of examining the upper digestive tract with a long, tube-shaped, flexible instrument that has its own light source and a camera at its tip.
- Duration
- 5–15 minutes
- Sedation
- Optional
- Preparation
- 8 hours without food
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Colonoscopy and Preparing for It
Colonoscopy is the examination of the inner surface of the large bowel with a thin, flexible instrument carrying a camera, allowing biopsies and the removal of polyps where these are needed.
- Duration
- 20–30 minutes
- Sedation
- Usually given
- Preparation
- Bowel cleansing
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Polypectomy (Removing a Polyp)
Polypectomy is the removal of polyps in the stomach or bowel during endoscopy or colonoscopy; no incision is made, and removing suitable polyps can prevent bowel cancer.
- Duration
- 5–30 minutes added to the colonoscopy
- Sedation
- Usually given
- Preparation
- Bowel cleansing
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Oesophageal Manometry
When food enters the stomach, strong acid production begins for digestion. The sphincter at the entrance to the stomach works like a one-way valve and keeps that acid out of the gullet.
- Duration
- 20–30 minutes
- Sedation
- Not given
- Preparation
- 6 hours without food
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Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS)
EUS combines endoscopy and ultrasound in one instrument; it images the pancreas, the bile ducts and the wall of the digestive tract from very close by, and allows a tissue sample to be taken during the same procedure.
- Duration
- 15–60 minutes
- Sedation
- Sedation is given
- Preparation
- 6–8 hours without food
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ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography)
Imaging the bile and pancreatic ducts with an endoscope, and treating what is found in the same session.
- Duration
- 30–60 minutes
- Sedation
- Sedation or general anaesthesia
- Preparation
- 6–8 hours without food
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Endoscopic Mucosal Resection (EMR)
Removing polyps and early lesions from the surface of the digestive tract by lifting them with injected fluid and cutting them away with a wire snare.
- Duration
- 20–45 minutes
- Sedation
- Sedation is given
- Preparation
- Nothing by mouth; bowel cleansing for the large bowel
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Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection (ESD)
Removing early cancers and large lesions in one piece with an endoscope, by dissecting them free from beneath the lining with special knives.
- Duration
- 1–3 hours
- Sedation
- General anaesthesia or deep sedation
- Preparation
- Nothing by mouth; blood thinners stopped
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Cystogastrostomy (EUS-Guided Cyst Drainage)
Opening a route with an endoscope between a cyst on the pancreas and the stomach, so that the cyst drains into the stomach.
- Duration
- 30–60 minutes
- Sedation
- General anaesthesia or deep sedation
- Preparation
- Nothing by mouth; clotting tests
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Hepaticogastrostomy (EUS-Guided Biliary Drainage)
Opening a route with an endoscope between a bile duct inside the liver and the stomach, where ERCP cannot be done or has failed.
- Duration
- 45–90 minutes
- Sedation
- General anaesthesia
- Preparation
- Nothing by mouth; clotting tests
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Gastrojejunostomy (EUS-Guided Stomach-to-Bowel Bypass)
Creating a stented passage with an endoscope between the stomach and the small bowel, where the outlet of the stomach is blocked.
- Duration
- 45–90 minutes
- Sedation
- General anaesthesia
- Preparation
- Nothing by mouth; the stomach emptied