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Why it's done
By Mayo Clinic staff
Endoscopy is used to diagnose and treat conditions that affect the upper part of the digestive system, including the esophagus, stomach and beginning of the small intestine (duodenum).
Your doctor may recommend an endoscopy procedure to:
- Investigate causes of digestive signs and symptoms. Endoscopy may help your doctor determine what's causing signs and symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, difficulty swallowing and gastrointestinal bleeding.
- Diagnose digestive diseases and conditions. Your doctor may use endoscopy to collect tissue (biopsy) samples to test for diseases and conditions, such as anemia, bleeding, inflammation, diarrhea or cancers of the digestive system.
- Treat certain digestive system problems. Using special tools during endoscopy allows your doctor to treat certain problems in your digestive system, such as bleeding from the esophagus or stomach, difficulty swallowing caused by a narrow esophagus, or removing polyps. Endoscopy can also be used to remove foreign objects lodged in your upper digestive tract.
- Follow-up after treatment for digestive diseases and conditions. Your doctor may use endoscopy after treatment for a digestive system problem to ensure treatment was successful. For instance, an endoscopy may reveal whether stomach ulcers have healed following treatment.
Endoscopy is sometimes combined with other procedures, such as ultrasound. An ultrasound probe may be attached to the endoscope to create specialized images of the wall of your esophagus or stomach. An endoscopic ultrasound may also help your doctor create images of hard-to-reach organs, such as your pancreas.
