Indications
A health care provider may use endoscopy for any of the following:
- investigation of symptoms, such as symptoms in the digestive system including nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, difficulty swallowing and gastrointestinal bleeding
- confirmation of a diagnosis, most commonly by performing a biopsy to check for conditions such as anemia, bleeding, inflammation, cancers of the digestive system.
- giving treatment, such as cauterization of a bleeding vessel, widening a narrow esophagus, clipping off a polyp or removing a foreign object
The overuse of endoscopies in patients diagnosed with Barrett's esophagus is a concern of specialty professional organizations which are concerned with digestive problems. Such societies recommend that patients with Barrett's esophagus and no cancer symptoms after two biopsies receive biopsies as indicated and no more often than the recommended rate.
Read more about this topic: Endoscopy
Famous quotes containing the word indications:
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—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
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