Many people may have this experience: you go to the doctor for an upset stomach. After asking about your condition, the doctor asks you to lie down, presses a few times and says, "Let's do anOGDand have a look." Then your common thought is: "I have to do a gastroscopy. Am I suffering from some serious disease? I heard that a gastroscopy is very painful. Can I not do it?"
What exactly is being checked during a gastroscopy?
Gastroscopy can truly reflect lesions that cannot be seen directly with the naked eye, just like looking in a mirror, thus providing a basis for doctors' diagnosis and treatment. The gastroscope is inserted through the mouth and the mucosa of the esophagus, stomach, duodenal bulb and descending part can be clearly observed.
Therefore, gastroscopy has incomparable advantages over other examination methods in observing gastrointestinal lesions above the descending part of the duodenum.
Gastroscopy can not only directly observe lesions, but also take biopsies for pathological examination. It can also perform endoscopic treatment for many diseases, avoiding the trauma and risks brought to patients by traditional laparotomy treatment.
Gastroscopy is currently used clinically to diagnose the following diseases:
- Digestive tract inflammation and mucosal lesions
- Ulcer
- Polyps
- Tumor
- Gastrointestinal stenosis
- Esophageal and gastric varices
It can also provide effective treatment for the following diseases:
- Upper gastrointestinal bleeding
- Polyps
- Submucosal tumors
- Early gastric cancer
- Gastrointestinal stenosis
- Foreign bodies in the digestive tract (such as coins, buttons, fish bones, date stones, chicken and duck bones)
How sick do you have to be before you need a gastroscopy?
- Patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms (retrosternal pain, dysphagia, heartburn, acid regurgitation, belching, mid-upper abdominal pain, vomiting, hematemesis, etc.), long-term symptoms, and imaging examinations that cannot fully confirm the diagnosis
- Patients who have been diagnosed or have received treatment for gastric and duodenal bulb lesions, such as ulcers, polyps, mucosal dysplasia, intestinal metaplasia, atrophy, and tumors
- Patients with definite diagnosis of cirrhosis and patients with chronic hepatitis for a long time
The above information is for reference only. Consult your doctor if you have any doubt.
Source:https://bit.ly/3iMXV85
