What does an endoscopy do?

The most common procedure used in diagnosing esophageal and stomach conditions, endoscopy is a nonsurgical procedure that helps your gastroenterologist examine your esophagus, stomach and upper small intestine using a flexible tube with a camera attached. During an endoscopy, your doctor may take biopsies to check for infections, certain diseases and rule out cancer. If there is evidence of abnormalities that require treatment, such as bleeding or stretching of the esophagus for a narrowing, it will be performed. Your endoscopy will be performed under sedation, and you will need to fast for six to eight hours prior to the procedure.

In some cases, your gastroenterologist may use a special endoscope that creates an ultrasound image of your upper gastrointestinal tract, aiding in the detection of conditions that may be hard to see with the endoscopic camera.

This endoscopic procedure allows your gastroenterologist to remove polyps, precancerous growths, or even early stage cancer from your upper and lower digestive tract. These lesions previously required surgery to remove, but with advanced technology and techniques we are now able to remove the majority of these lesions completely from the inside without requiring surgery.

If you have a cancerous or noncancerous blockage in the bile duct, esophagus, colon, gallbladder or small intestine, your gastroenterologist may place a thin plastic or metal stent to manage the blockage and relieve some of your symptoms.

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), a condition in which bacteria that normally live in your large intestine end up in your small intestine. This can cause symptoms of bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and weight loss. In this test, you ingest a manmade sugar that can only be digested by these bacteria and collecting breath samples over a three-hour window. A lab analysis of the samples will determine if you have SIBO and where the bacteria is located, helping your doctor develop a treatment plan.