Endoscopic surgery

  • 22 July 2014
  • Dr Jane Strang

What is endoscopic surgery?

An endoscope is a surgical instrument inserted into a cavity or an organ in the body allowing the surgeon to view problem areas of the body. This includes gastroscopy ( looking into the stomach and upper part of the small intestine) and colonoscopy ( looking at the large bowel and end of the small intestine).

An alternative to colonoscopy is CT colonography. This usually requires the same bowel preparation as colonoscopy but can sometimes be done without it. The benefits of having a colonoscopy include 1. if any abnormality is suspected or found biopsies or polyp removal can be done at that time 2. there is no radiation exposure and 3. sedation is used which means you will not feel the procedure. I recommend CT colonography for people who are frail and will not tolerate bowel preparation easily, or for people who take anticoagulants such as warfarin, dabigitran or clopidogrel.

Some surgical procedures can be carried out with an endoscope, such as polyp removal.

Share this post