Gastroscopy is
often useful in diagnosing problems such as:
· abdominal pain.
· bleeding from
digestive tract.
· cancer of
the stomach or oesophagus.
· chronic
heartburn and indigestion.
· diagnosis the
removal of foreign bodies in the oesophagus.
· inflammation of
the stomach.
· hiatus
hernias.
What is a gastroscopy?
It is an out-patient procedure, meaning that you will not need to stay over in
hospital for the procedure. The whole procedure takes more or less 15 minutes.
This is a non-surgical technique ( that means no incisions!) for diagnosing problems in the
upper gastro intestinal tract. As the procedure is done under deep sedation,
and we enter the stomach, it is essential that you must be NPO (nil per os) for at least 6 hours prior to the procedure.
Understandingly, most patients are a bit
apprehensive about the idea of 'swallowing a scope' but modern techniques as
well as the presence of an anaesthetist that applies
deep sedation, in all cases of gastroscopy, leaves the
patient afterwards with being pleasantly surprised by how easy it was.
Procedure
On entering the scope room, you will meet the anaesthetist, who will put up a small intravenous line,
(drip) and that is basically all of the pain that you will endure during the
procedure. You will be asked to remove your glasses, as well as any dentures,
and then a small mouthpiece will be placed between your teeth, enabling you to
relax your jaws. After that, the anaesthetist will
give you an intravenous injection that will put you under deep sedation.
Dr van Niekerk uses a long thin flexible fibre optic tube that is passed through the mouth into the
stomach. In order to see the inside of the stomach, the stomach needs to be
inflated with air. At the tip of the tube there is an advanced micro-camera
that shows the picture on a video screen. There is also a work channel whereby
he can pass biopsy forceps or snares through.
Dr van Niekerk makes use of a digital
camera-recording-system, and he will be able to take photographs of any
pathology that he encounters during the procedure. These photographs will then
be kept on your medical file, and a copy of this will be given to you post
procedure.
Furthermore, areas of abnormality, like polyps
(growths) or ulcers, may be biopsied. A biopsy is
done with a miniature forceps that take a 3mm bite from the abnormal tissue.
This tissue is then sent to the pathologist and the results are then made
available to the patient within the next 48 hours.
Post-procedure
You will not remember anything happening during the
procedure, but 10 minutes after the procedure, you will be wide awake, where Dr
van Niekerk will debrief you on the findings of his examination.
It is common post procedure that you may feel
slightly bloated from air that was placed in your stomach during the
examination. This feeling will gradually subside. Once you are more alert, you
will be able to eat and drink as normal, usually about 30mins post procedure.
Preferably, you must bring someone with you to
drive you home, as we do not allow patients to drive for the first two hours
post deep sedation.
Finally, a word about AIDS. Due
to extensive coverage in the media about AIDS, some individuals have been
concerned that they might contract the virus through this examination. Be
assured that this is not the case. All our instruments are extensively cleaned
and undergo a high level of disinfection between each case.