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What is Gastroscopy
A gastroscope is a bendy telescope about the diameter of a pen and about three feet long. This passes very easily down the throat and beyond. Strictly speaking a gastroscopy is just an examination of your stomach. But on the way, you are examined from the back of your mouth right down the oesophagus, the tube that runs inside your chest and connects the back of your mouth to your stomach. You may also be examined beyond your stomach into the upper part of the gut called the duodenum. Snippets of the lining of the stomach and other parts (biopsies) may be taken to help find out what is causing your problem.
What Happens before the Operation
You will need to stop drinking and eating 6 hours before the examination. This will make sure your stomach is empty for the examination. Check you have a relative or friend who can come with you to the hospital and take you home. Bring all your tablets and medicines with you to the hospital. On the ward, you may be checked for past illnesses and may have special tests to make sure that you are well prepared and that you can have the procedure as safely as possible.
The Operation
First you will have your mouth and the back of your throat sprayed three or four times to make the lining numb. The spray tastes of orange and is a little sour. Then you have a fine, thin plastic tube put into a vein in your arm in case a sedative is needed. You will be turned to lie on your left side. You will be given a plastic tooth guard to bite on. Then the gastroscope is passed slowly down the back of your tongue. It tickles and makes fizzing noises. You will be asked to swallow once or twice to get the tube started on its journey down the back of your throat. You will be able to breathe normally, but you will find it difficult to talk because of the tube. You may feel your tummy swelling a little with wind as air is blown down the gastroscope to get a good view. You may even burp loudly. This is expected. The swelling soon passes off. Some people get a sickly feeling at one moment during the examination. This passes quickly. As the gastroscope is taken out at the end of the examination, it makes a noise in your mouth as it clears any secretions. You can always choose to have a general anaesthetic if you prefer.
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