Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
- What is Upper Digestive Endoscopy
- When is it necessary?
- What precautions should I take to undergo the exam?
- What is the preparation for the Upper Digestive Endoscopy exam?
- What is Upper Digestive Endoscopy
- Upper Digestive Endoscopy: What are the risks of the procedure:
- What should I do after the Upper Digestive Endoscopy procedure?
What is it?
It is an exam indicated for the diagnostic evaluation and treatment of diseases of the upper part of the digestive tube, including the esophagus, stomach, and the initial portion of the duodenum.
It is performed by inserting a flexible device with central lighting through the mouth, which allows the visualization of the entire examined path.
The exam is performed under sedation, using medication administered through a vein to allow you to relax and fall asleep, without pain or discomfort.
When is it necessary?
An endoscopy may be done if you have problems such as:
Heartburn
Problems swallowing
Abdominal pain
Burning chest pain
Anemia
Diarrhea
Gastrointestinal bleeding
Vomiting
This procedure helps your doctor make a more accurate diagnosis
What precautions should I take to undergo the exam?
Bring an adult companion. Plan for your care, find someone to give you a ride home after the procedure. It is forbidden to drive after the exam.
Bring documentation requested at the time of scheduling the exam. For example: identity card (ID); health insurance card and authorization; doctor’s order (exam request)
Some medications (such as aspirin and anticoagulants) may increase the risk of bleeding during or after the procedure. Ask your doctor if you need to avoid taking any medication before the procedure.
Inform your healthcare professional about all the medications and supplements you take.
Ask all the questions you have before the procedure. You should understand what the doctor will do and how long it will take to recover.
What is the preparation for the exam?
For the exam, it is necessary that your stomach is empty because if there are still food residues, they can come back and enter the lung, a very serious condition. Therefore, you must remain in complete fasting for 8 hours.
The use of most continuous-use medications can be postponed until after the exam. However, if there is a need to use any prescribed medication before the exam (for example, antihypertensives), you should take it with small sips of water. Do not use milk or antacids.
If you are diabetic, schedule the exam for the earliest possible time and leave to use insulin or oral hypoglycemic agents after the exam and close to the first meal of the day.
Avoid coming with painted nails, because the polish hinders the reading of blood oxygenation done by the digital oximeter.
The doctor will be available to explain the procedure and answer your questions.
Please inform if you have already undergone another endoscopy exam, if you had allergies or reactions to any medication.
You will need to remove your glasses and dental prostheses.
Before the exam, it is necessary to fill out the admission form and the informed consent form.
What will happen during the exam?
You will not feel pain, sometimes just a slight discomfort in the throat during the passage of the device and in the stomach during the inflation of the organ with air.
The sedative medication may also cause a burning sensation at the infusion site and along the punctured vein (phlebitis).
If necessary, small tissue samples (biopsies) can be collected during the exam for detailed microscopic analysis. Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt.
In the presence of elevated lesions (polyps), the doctor may perform, depending on the case, the removal of the lesion (polypectomy) during the exam.
The samples taken during the exam (biopsies or polyps) are sent to the pathology laboratory for analysis. The result of the analysis should be collected directly from the laboratory where the material was analyzed and is generally ready in seven days.
If there are no complications, the average duration of the procedure is 10 minutes.
What are the risks of the procedure:
Upper digestive endoscopy is a safe exam. However, like any medical act, it is not without risks.
The most frequent complication is phlebitis (pain and swelling along the punctured vein) which can occur in up to 5% of cases, depending on the medication used for sedation.
More serious complications are very rare, occurring in less than 0.2% of cases, and may be related to the use of sedative medications or the endoscopic procedure itself.
The medications used in sedation can cause local and even systemic reactions of a cardiorespiratory nature, including respiratory depression with decreased blood oxygenation and changes in heart rhythm (bradycardia and tachycardia) and systemic blood pressure (hypotension and hypertension).
These side effects are constantly monitored during the exam with the use of blood oxygenation and heart rate monitors, and the team is trained to immediately treat any of these complications.
Other complications of upper digestive endoscopy, such as perforation and bleeding, are exceptional in diagnostic exams but may occur in therapeutic exams.
In therapeutic procedures such as the removal of a foreign body (fishbone, bone, etc.), dilation of stenoses (narrowings), elastic ligation or sclerosis of varices, removal of polyps (polypectomy), or flat lesions (mucosectomy), the risk of bleeding or perforation varies from about 0.5% to 5%.
Your endoscopist doctor is qualified to take all appropriate measures for the prevention and treatment of these adverse events as well as to better clarify them.
What should I do after the procedure?
You will remain in the recovery room for about 10-30 minutes until the main effects of the medications used for sedation wear off.
Your throat may be numb or slightly irritated, and you may feel a slight discomfort in your stomach. Sneezing or a feeling of nasal congestion may occur if you received oxygen during the exam.
Because you have been sedated, an adult companion must be available to help you back home.
Due to the effects of the medication, you should not drive cars, operate machinery, drink alcohol, or smoke until the next day after the exam, when you will be able to return to your routine activities.
After the exam, you can return to your normal diet and take your routine medications, unless otherwise instructed by your doctor.
The result of the exam should be interpreted according to your clinical history and physical examination. The doctor who requested the exam is the most qualified professional to guide you regarding the diagnosis found. Additional instructions regarding your problem and treatment will be given at your next clinical consultation.
If biopsies were obtained, the analysis will be performed by the pathology laboratory, with the result being delivered by the same laboratory usually in seven working days.
If you have undergone a therapeutic procedure, additional information will be provided by the endoscopist doctor.