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By Mayo Clinic staff
During endoscopy
During your endoscopy procedure, you'll be asked to lie down on a table on your back or your side.
Monitors often will be attached to your body to allow your health care team to monitor your breathing, blood pressure and heart rate during the procedure. You may receive a sedative medication through a vein in your arm. This medication helps you relax during the endoscopy.
Your doctor may spray an anesthetic in your mouth to numb your throat in preparation for insertion of the long, flexible tube (endoscope) that will be used to see your digestive tract. You may be asked to wear a plastic mouth guard to hold your mouth open. Then the endoscope is inserted in your mouth. Your doctor may ask you to swallow as the scope passes down your throat. You may feel some pressure in your throat, but you shouldn't feel pain.
You can't talk after the endoscope passes down your throat, though you can make noises. The endoscope doesn't interfere with your breathing.
Your doctor then passes the endoscope down your esophagus toward your stomach. A tiny camera on the end of the endoscope transmits images to a video monitor in the exam room. Your doctor watches this monitor to look for abnormalities in your upper digestive tract. If abnormalities are found in your digestive tract, your doctor may record images for later examination.
To help the endoscope move through your upper digestive tract, gentle air pressure may be fed into your esophagus. This inflates your digestive tract so the endoscope can move freely and the folds of your digestive tract are more easily examined. But the air can also create a feeling of pressure or fullness.
If there's a need to collect a tissue sample or remove a polyp, your doctor will pass special surgical tools through the endoscope. Your doctor watches the video monitor to guide the tools.
When your doctor has finished the exam, the endoscope is slowly retracted through your esophagus and back out through your mouth. Endoscopy typically takes five to 20 minutes, depending on your situation.
After endoscopy
You'll be taken to a recovery area to sit or lie quietly after your endoscopy. You may stay for an hour or so, depending on your situation. This allows your health care team to monitor you as the sedative begins to wear off.
Once you're at home, you may experience some mildly uncomfortable signs and symptoms after endoscopy, such as:
- Bloating and gas
- Cramping
- Sore throat
These signs and symptoms will improve with time. If you're concerned or quite uncomfortable, call your doctor.
Take it easy for the rest of the day after your endoscopy. You may feel alert, but your reaction times and judgment are delayed after receiving a sedative.
- Pasricha PJ. Gastrointestinal endoscopy. In: Goldman L, et al. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/201609212-3/0/1492/0.html. Accessed May 26, 2010.
- Kimmey MB. Complications of gastrointestinal endoscopy. In: Feldman M, et al. Sleisinger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/linkTo?type=bookHome&isbn=978-1-4160-6189-2&eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-6189-2..X0001-7--TOP&uniq=200844987-3. Accessed May 26, 2010.
- Upper GI endoscopy. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/upperendoscopy/index.htm. Accessed May 25, 2010.
- Upper endoscopy. Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons. http://www.sages.org/publication/id/PI16/. Accessed May 25, 2010.
- Preparing for an upper GI endoscopy. American Gastroenterological Association. http://www.gastro.org/patient-center/procedures/upper-gi-endoscopy. Accessed May 25, 2010.
- Upper endoscopy. Cancer.Net. http://www.cancer.net/patient/All+About+Cancer/Cancer.Net+Features/Cancer+Screening+and+Prevention/Upper+Endoscopy%26mdash%3BWhat+to+Expect. Accessed May 25, 2010.
- Picco MP (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla. June 10, 2010.
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