Gastroscopy

Gastroscopy is often useful in diagnosing problems such as:

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.

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