Endoscope Flashcards
What are the parts of an endoscope?
Screen, Light source, air/water source,
Control head,
Flexible tip, Video camera, hollow channel allowing you to suck things up and insert tools down for biopsy
What is a gastroscope used for?
Viewing the stomach
What is a colonoscope used for?
Viewing the colon
What is an endobronchial retrograde cholandio- pancreatography ERCP scope used for?
Examining the billary tree and pancreatic ducts
What is an enteroscope used for?
Viewing the small bowel
What is endoscopic ultrasound?
Using an endoscop to look at different parts of the body beyong the gut using a miniature ultrasound probe
Capsule cameras: what are they used for and what it the concern?
Used for gaining images of the GI tract that are particularity hard to get to. Produces a 2-4 hour video.
Concerns: swallowing batteries- you need to make sure the capsule doesn’t get stuck or be digested as batteries will cause ulceration of the gut.
What are endoscopic ultrasounds often used for?
Staging oesophageal cancers
Broadly, what are endoscopes used for?
Diagnosis
Therapeutics (both emergency and elective)
Screening
Surveilance
Much of the diagnosis can be made by visulalising the surfaces of the GI tract. What common diseases can be seen?
Oesophagitis, gastritis Ulceration Coeliac disease Crohn's disease Ulcerative colitis Sclerosing cholangitis Benign tumours Malignant tumours
What vascular abnormalities can be seen using an endoscope
Varices
Ecstatic blood vessels
Angiodysplasia
What are varices?
extremely dilated sub-mucosal veins
What are estatic blood vessels?
Blood vessels are normally covered by mucosa and do not bleed. These are new vessels that are not covered and can bleed
What is angiodysplasia?
small vascular malformation of the gut. It is a common cause of otherwise unexplained gastrointestinal bleeding and anemia.
What are Mallory Weiss tears?
tear in the mucous membrane, or inner lining, where the esophagus meets the stomach.
What are diverticulae?
Pouches in the wall of the colon. Usually because we do not eat enough fruit and vegetables. Asymptomatic
What other miscellaneous conditions can be diagnosed using an endoscope?
Gall stones
Worms- thred worms most commonly in the UK
Foreign bodies eg bezoars (balls of hair, razor blades, food bolus
What are the advantages of using endoscopes?
Safe and easy to follow up.
Mostly day cases or short hospital stays
Can remove tissue in a minimally invasive way
Detects premalignant and sometimes assymptomatic conditions
Screening of assymptomatic individuals
What is the pre malignant stage of colon cancer?
Adenomatous polyp
What is the premalignant stage of some oesophageal cancers?
Barretts oesophagus
Dye staining the oesophagus can be done using iodine and indigo carmine but it is messy, time consuming and uncomfortable for the patient. What can be done instead?
Narrow band imaging where ble light is reflected off the surface and green light is reflected from deeper in the tissue.
Helps to exadurate the changes seen
Endoscopes can be used to obtain tissue samples. What are these?
Biopsy and histology
Brushings and cytology
Rarely aspirates and biopsies for microbiology
What therapeutics can be carried ou using endoscopes?
Stemming GI bleeding
Nerve blocks to reduce pain
Resection of early cancer
Stenting to maintain patency
What is haematemisis?
Vomiting clotted blood (usually due to a GI bleed above the duodenum)