ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Endoscopy is a medical technique that doctors use to detect and treat certain conditions without major surgery. The popularity of these procedures has surged in recent years, and, that’s a good thing.
What used to be major surgery is now a lot easier thanks to this thin device. An endoscope lets surgeons see inside your body. It’s placed through a natural opening, like your mouth or anus. But these procedures don’t just diagnose medical conditions.
“There’s been an evolution in endoscopy and increasingly now it’s being used as a therapy,” explained Robert Hawes, MD, Florida Hospital for Minimally Invasive Therapy.
Endoscopic procedures are now used to spot and treat conditions like: non-cancerous polyps, Barrett’s esophagus, bile duct stones, and gastric cancer. Last year, about 75 million endoscopies were performed. Sixty eight percent of them were gastrointestinal procedures. Benefits for the patient include an easier recovery, no visible scar, and usually no hospital stay. And there’s more …
“The cost savings is substantial,” continued Dr. Hawes.
For instance: the cost of removing benign colon polyps is four to five times lower if it’s done endoscopically. Proving this scope can save money and recovery time.
The chance of serious complications with endoscopy are low. But possible risks include infection, piercing an organ, and bleeding.
Contributors to this news report include: Julie Marks, Field Producer; Roque Correa, Editor.
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ENDOSCOPY: BENEFITS OF THE SCOPE
REPORT #2586
BACKGROUND: Research shows in 2017, there was an estimated 75 million endoscopies performed annually in the United States. An endoscopy is a medical procedure used to view the internal organs in a non-surgical way. These are often called “minimally invasive” procedures since they are less invasive ways to visualize organs than surgically. Before endoscopic procedures, surgery was generally necessary to get the same results as we now get from endoscopy. These procedures can also be done without the general anesthesia often necessary for surgery, and therefore carry less risk. With endoscopy, an endoscope is usually inserted down through the mouth, up through the rectum, or through a small incision made in the skin when evaluating the inside of joints, the chest, or the abdomen. An endoscope is a flexible thin tube with a lighted camera attached. The camera returns a picture so that internal body structures can be visualized on a monitor. An endoscopy is usually done when visualization of internal organs is necessary to make a diagnosis, and endoscopy allows the diagnosis to be made with less risk than surgery. Endoscopy may also be used to gain access to internal organs for treatment.
(Source: https://idataresearch.com/75-million-endoscopies-performed-annually-according-to-idata-research-procedure-analysis/; https://www.verywellhealth.com/endoscopy-description-and-preparation-513961)
THE VERSITALITY OF THE ENDOSCOPE: Endoscopes can also be fitted with other surgical equipment and be used for other parts of the inner body. A Colonoscope examines the colon, while a hysteroscope examines the uterus. It can also send pulses of heat and be used to destroy small gallstones and tumors. Another type of endoscope is a type that is swallowed. A capsule, about the size of a vitamin tablet, has a camera attached. After being swallowed, it moves through the body’s digestive tract and takes pictures along the way. You are fitted with a small recorder to wear for the day which records what the capsule sees. You wear the recorder for approximately 8 hours and then return to the hospital to have the recorder removed. The doctors then download the images and information that the capsule recorded. There are numerous types of endoscopies, examining everything you can imagine from your fetus, to your rectum and colon, to the inside of the nose, your joints and even your cervix and vagina. It is amazing technology, making diagnosis of some diseases and conditions possible with the least discomfort. Being able to see inside the body means quicker diagnosis and treatment. Complications from an endoscope are extremely rare (1%) but may include; an infection, a tear or piercing of the organ being treated, bleeding.
(Source: https://gastrointestinal-conditions.knoji.com/facts-about-endoscopy/)
BREAKTHROUGHS IN ENDOSCOPIES: When colorectal polyps or other lesions are too large or difficult to remove by colonoscopy, surgery is required. Now, an innovative new option is available: a robotic scope that enables the physician to successfully remove lesions that cannot be removed by endoscopy without the patient undergoing surgery. Through a collaboration between the Division of Colorectal Surgery and the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, physicians at NYU Langone Health were the first in New York to use the Flex Robotic System within the gastrointestinal tract. Colorectal surgeon, Mitchell Bernstein, MD, chief of the Division of Colorectal Surgery, and gastroenterologist, Seth A. Gross, MD, removed a large, premalignant rectal lesion in a woman who was later discharged on the same day. “This is the first time a robotic platform was incorporated into gastrointestinal endoscopy,” says Dr. Gross, also an associate professor of Medicine at NYU School of Medicine.” “At a time when technology and advancement in endoscopy is rapidly improving, our division is committed to studying and utilizing the best technologies available to care for patients,” he continued.
* For More Information, Contact:
Claudia Arbona
(407) 303-8215
