My Oesophago-Gastro-Duode noscopy (Endoscopy)

Member Name: Ric!

Product:	Endoscopy
Date:	30/01/02 (1884 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Important, Allows Direct Visualisation, Allows Biopsies To Be Taken

Disadvantages: Very Small Risk Involved (as with ANY procedure)

The type of endoscopy that I want to write about here is an oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopy, otherwise known as an OGD, or sometimes shortened to gastroscopy.

An OGD may be indicated for a number of reasons. The reason I needed one was due to recurrent acid reflux or heartburn. It all began just over 3 years ago. The heartburn has increased in severity ever since. I tried all the lifestyle changes (losing weight, avoiding red wine and spicy foods, etc etc) and they certainly did have some effect, but couldn't get rid of the problem. I tried increasingly stronger and stronger medical therapies until I was on Lansoprazole (Zoton), a Proton Pump Inhibitor - which suppresses acid production in the stomach and helps ulcers to heal. But, I was still getting some symptoms. Now, I shouldn't have even let things get that far before going for an OGD. But, I kept putting it off. I hoped it would all settle down because I really didn't want an OGD.

Why didn't I want an OGD? Well, as a medical student you stand and watch them being done on lots of occasions. Most people tolerate them well, but occasionally you see someone who is retching continually and trying to pull out the endoscope, obviously in distress - these are the ones that stick in your mind. It's not just that I didn't want to have one, but I really actually feared having one done.

An endoscope is a flexible tube, about the size of your little finger. It works using fibre-optics and basically shines a light and relays a video image back up to a TV monitor (sometimes there is no TV monitor and the doctor actually has to look down the endoscope). The tube is placed into your mouth, down your oesophagus, into your stomach and out into the first part of the small bowel, called the duodenum. The end of the endoscope is manoeuvrable, so views of all parts of the stomach can be achieved. If needed, a biopsy can be taken by threading down a thin piece of wire w
ith little graspers on the end, then pinching off a sample - this is completely painless. The whole procedure only takes a few minutes.

Oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopy is not a painful procedure. Sure, it may feel uncomfortable, but the back of your throat is numbed with a spray, and you may be given an intravenous sedative. Well, I made damn sure that I had that intravenous sedative! The drug normally used in called Midazolam. It is a benzodiazepine and has the effect of calming you down and making you relax. But it also produces amnesia. This means that you will probably only be able to remember very little about the experience. Even knowing this, though, didn't make me more willing to have the OGD done.

In the end, I simply knew that I HAD to have the endoscopy done. People who suffer chronic acid reflux over many years have a chance of developing a Barrett's oesophagus, which is pre-cancerous change in the lining of the gullet. At 23, I had every chance to try and find out what was going on, and reduce the risk of this. I convinced myself to go ahead with it.

So, I finally had the procedure done yesterday. You need to starve for 6 hours beforehand, and take someone with you, as you can't drive home after having the sedative. I remember being on the trolley, being wheeled in, being given the Midazolam, having a mouth guard put in, feeling like I was drunk (from the Midazolam!), and I can remember retching twice and burping about 3 times - but I can't remember anything else at all! My next memory is of getting up off the trolley in the recovery area, and walking back into the waiting room! Fantastic! Having been through the OGD and hardly remembering a thing, I would DEFINITELY have it again, without fear, if the need arose.

My reason for writing this opinion is to reassure anyone who needs to have a gastroscopy, but is reluctant to, that it WILL be FINE. There is nothing to worry about. I had b
een stressed for days beforehand, really worried and dreading the procedure! Now look at me - I'm ready to have it again sometime in the future! I cannot re-iterate enough - DON'T WORRY, just go and get it done - it is nowhere near as bad as you may imagine - in fact, it's not bad at all.

Of course, as with any procedure there is always going to be some risk, but this is negligible and your doctor will run through all this before you sign the consent form. As it happens, all my OGD showed was some gastritis, (inflammation of the stomach lining) and not really much else - so I'll have to have some more investigations, but that's another story, for another dooyoo category!

Hope that's helped put your mind at ease!

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