Gastroscopy and Colonoscopy

Endoscopy

Imaging of hollow organs with the help of a device that can be folded with an illuminated camera at the tip is called endoscopy. We call it gastroscopy to examine the esophagus, stomach and duodenum by entering through the mouth, and colonoscopy to examine a part of the large intestine and small intestine.

Gastroscopy

Esophagus today; It is used as the most sensitive method in the diagnosis of stomach and duodenal diseases. Endoscopy is widely used for diagnosis as well as for treatment.

How should be preparation for endoscopy;

Starting about 7-8 hours before the procedure, nothing should be eaten or drunk.

After a good examination and a detailed history, patients who are planned to undergo gastroscopy should be questioned about their comorbidities and medications. Some drugs need to be stopped for a while before the procedure.

To whom:

WHO recommends one gastroscopy for all patients after the age of 45, with or without a complaint. In colonoscopy, the age was determined as 50. Besides these;

• Difficulty swallowing
• Difficulty swallowing solid and liquid foods,
• Painful swallowing,
• Stuck sensation when swallowing food items,
• Heartburn and burning that do not resolve with medical treatment,
• Swelling, pain in the upper abdomen
• Treatment-resistant anemia,
• Sudden and rapid weight loss of unknown cause,
• Coffee ground or red blood vomiting
• Stool color should be tar colored,
• Bitter water in your mouth,
• Nausea and vomiting of unknown cause.

Gastroscopic interventions for therapeutic purposes

• Treatment of varicose bleeding
• Treatment of non-varicose stomach bleeding
• Enlargement of esophagus and stomach strictures
• Removal of stomach polyps and early stage stomach tumors
• Stent placement procedures in obstructive esophagus and stomach tumors
• One of the most common procedures, such as placing a tube in the stomach (PEG) for nutrition, can be successfully applied.

Colonoscopy

Colonoscopes are more flexible than gastroscopes, with an average length of 130-170 cm and a diameter of 11-14 mm.

Who gets a colonoscopy?

• To diagnose inflammatory bowel disease
• Determining the effectiveness of treatment in IBD
• unexplained Fe deficiency anemia
• In digestive system bleeding (Bloody stool, Black stool, occult blood in stool +)
• In chronic diarrhea of unknown cause
• Cancer research
• Malignancy follow-up
• Family cancer history and polyposis syndromes

Therapeutic use

• Polypectomy and removal of early stage tumors,
• Stenting in occlusive tumors
• Intervention in bleeding originating from the large intestine
• Hemorrhoid band ligation
• Marking the location of their tumors
• Correction of intestinal knotting
• Procedures such as foreign body removal are performed.

How is it done?

Colonoscopy is usually done without hospitalization. Patients are treated with bowel cleansing a day or two in advance, except for emergencies. The patient’s complaints, all examinations, previous illnesses, medications he used, and surgeries he has undergone are carefully questioned. The colonoscopy procedure is explained to the patient in detail by the physician.

After these preparations are made, the patient is positioned and drugs that provide sedation are made. Sedation is used to prevent the patient from feeling pain during the colonoscopy procedure. Medication (buscopan) can also be used for bowel relaxation. With the effect of the medications given, the patient goes into sleep. Unless it is very necessary, a full anesthesia is not applied.

Capsule Endoscopy

It is an imaging method using a small wireless camera to take pictures of the digestive system.

Traditionally, Endoscopy allows imaging of the stomach, duodenum, large intestine and part of the small intestine with a thin flexible instrument with a light camera at the end, advanced through the mouth or anus. In the Capsule Endoscopy method; The process begins with the swallowing of a vitamin capsule-sized capsule with water, this method allows monitoring areas that cannot be visualized by conventional endoscopic methods.

Capsule Endoscopy is also used to detect colon polyps in colonoscopies that cannot be performed or completed due to certain reasons.

• In digestive system bleeding with no cause; to locate the bleeding
• In inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease); in the diagnosis of the disease,
• In the diagnosis of small bowel and digestive system cancers,
• In the diagnosis of Celiac Disease; In Gluten Enteropathy; in diagnosing the disease and monitoring treatment

Capsule Endoscopy is also used in the screening of small intestine polyps in hereditary familial syndromes that may cause polyps in the small intestine.

Capsule Endoscopy can also be performed in the presence of an indeterminate, suspicious disease of the small intestine detected in any imaging modality results.

Capsule Endoscopy is a safe method with very little risk. The capsule is naturally removed from the digestive system in about 72 hours. Eating and drinking should be stopped for at least 12 hours before Capsule Endoscopy. In some cases, laxatives (laxatives) may be required to improve the image quality of pictures taken from the digestive system. Liquid foods can be taken 2 hours after the capsule is swallowed, and soft solid foods can be taken approximately 4 hours later.

Capsule endoscopy is usually terminated within 8 hours or with the excretion of the capsule through the stool. The capsule can be discarded within hours, or it can take a few days. During this time, thousands of photos are taken as the capsule passes through the digestive system and these are recorded. Thanks to the newly developed capsules, 360 degree views can be taken, and no extra accessory needs to be attached to the body for recording.

After the images taken from the digestive system are evaluated by a specialist team, the results can be delivered to patients within a few hours.