Anyone needing to undergo an internal clinical investigation, to diagnose symptoms related to a health concern, will have heard of an endoscopy or endoscopy procedure. But what does it mean…?
The term endoscopy covers the method used to look inside your body (via an instrument called an endoscope) to achieve a diagnosis when you may have symptoms such as stomach pains, blood in your poo or unintentional weight loss.
If your GP has arranged for you to see a one of our Consultants about your symptoms, there will be a particular “oscopy” that they’ll need carry out. This will be related to the condition you’ve gone to your GP about, in order to achieve a diagnosis.
If your symptoms relate to your oesophagus, stomach or top part of your small intestine and one of these needs to be checked out, then you’ll be given a gastroscopy. And if the problem you have is related to your bowel, then it’s a colonoscopy you’ll need. We’ll look at other types of endoscopy in a separate article.
When might an endoscopy procedure be used?
An endoscopy might be recommended by your GP to investigate many symptoms, including:
- Difficulty swallowing (also known as dysphagia)
- Pains in your stomach that don’t go away, or keep coming back
- Having diarrhoea, or feeling and being sick often
- When you have unintentional weight loss; losing weight without trying to
- If you often have heartburn or indigestion
- If there's blood in your poo
To find out how to access our endoscopy service, get in touch using our online enquiry form or contact our Private Patient Team via Livechat or on 01580 363158.
Published on 22 July 2020