Gastroenterology

Endoscopy: What To Know

Gastroenterologists often suggest patients who suffer from gastric or acid reflux issues go for endoscopy. Mainly with the help of endoscopy, it is easy to determine the condition of your intestine, stomach, colon, and other related digestive organs. 

Doctors perform various endoscopy methods to understand the issues of the digestive system. Before you prepare yourself for endoscopy in Kolkata, there are a few things that you should know.

What is Endoscopy? 

A long thin tube is placed in the orifice (either mouth or anus) to examine the body organs properly. This tube is known as an endoscope. It will help the doctor to view the organs and understand the cause of the digestive issues properly.

In the case of colonoscopy, this tube or endoscope is inserted inside the rectum. With this procedure, the physicians can check the intestine and colon condition of your body. With enteroscopy, the doctors can detect the problems in the oesophagus, throat, and upper intestine.

Facts of Endoscopy

A few interesting endoscopy facts are discussed below;

  • All types of endoscopic procedures are safe, reliable, and quick.
  • The main aim of performing endoscopy is to get an accurate investigation of the stomach and perform further treatment accordingly.
  • Remove polyps or tumours from your digestive areas; an endoscopy is effective.
  • The first tube or endoscope was discovered in 1806.

Preparation For Endoscopy

To investigate various digestive organs accurately, you can rely on endoscopy in Kolkata. For endoscopy, you do not have to stay hospitalized even for a day. It takes around 1 hour to complete the entire endoscopy.

You may have to fast for 12 hours before the endoscopy. Consult your doctor.

You will be advised to take laxatives before the night of endoscopy for clearing the body system.

Process Of Endoscopy 

To perform an endoscopy, there are certain health reasons as follows;

  1. Investigate

If any patient is experiencing breathing issues, abdominal pain or disorder, vomiting, painful ulcers in the stomach, difficulty swallowing, or bleeding from gastric organs, then the doctor uses an endoscope to understand the cause of these symptoms.

  1. Confirmation 

Once endoscopy is done on the patient, a biopsy is carried on to confirm cancer or not. According to the confirmation of this diagnosis, further, the doctor will suggest medication and carry on the treatment.

  1. Treatment Purpose

Often doctors use an endoscope for removing ulcers or polyps from the digestive organs smoothly. Hence an illness can be treated successfully and directly by the endoscopy method.

  1. During Surgery

In recent times, doctors have preferred advanced endoscopic tools during surgery. It helps to make the surgery easier and less painful. Surgeries like gallstone removal, fallopian tube tying, or removal of any sized tumours from lungs or digestive system require endoscopy sometimes.

Again, laparoscopy is the latest method of endoscopy. Therefore for surgeries like gallstone operations, keyhole surgery is performed to remove the stones from the bladder. It saves time and is safe for patients.

Side Effects Or Risks Of Endoscopy    

As a whole, endoscopy is a reliable and safe process for patients. However, there are certain risk factors associated with it. They are as follows;

  • Bloating
  • Abdominal Cramps
  • Throat numbness for some time due to anaesthesia
  • Continuous pain in the place of endoscopy
  • Minor bleeding internally

Conclusion

A doctor who does endoscopy in Kolkata observes the patient for 24 hours after the treatment. If you notice any symptoms like chest pain, blood vomit, or breathing trouble after endoscopy, immediately report to the doctor. 

The recovery after endoscopy depends on which method is used on the patient for the same. In general, within an hour, after the anaesthesia wears off, patients feel better. For the most qualified endoscopy in Kolkata, you should visit https://www.ilshospitals.com/.

Best Hospitals in Kolkata

Peptic Ulcer: Types, Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis And Treatment

A peptic ulcer is an inflammation that develops in the lining of the stomach, the lower part of the esophagus and upper portion of the small intestine. It is a gastroenterological condition and thus, treated by gastroenterologists. They are open lesions and mainly of three types based on their location as follows:

  • Gastric (stomach) ulcer: Ulcers that occur in the stomach.

  • Esophageal ulcer: Ulcers that happen in the esophagus.

  • Duodenal ulcer: Ulcers that develop in the upper portion of the small intestine.

It is important to know why peptic ulcer happens in the first place. The primary reason behind the occurrence is when the stomach acids responsible for digestion damages the lining of the stomach and sometimes even travel to the esophagus causing esophageal ulcer. The bacteria Helicobacter Pylori (H. Pylori) also contributes by inflaming the lining of the stomach. Surely, other causes are present as well which you’ll find below:

  • Smoking

  • Overuse of over-the-counter drugs

  • Infection from H. Pylori bacteria due to consuming contaminated food, water, using uncleaned utensils etc.

  • Overconsumption of alcohol.

Let’s now focus on the symptoms of a peptic ulcer.

  • Indigestion

  • Heartburn or acid reflux

  • Vomiting or regurgitation

  • Bloating and burping

  • Belching

  • Black stools

  • Nausea

  • Fatigue

  • Unintentional or unexpected weight loss

  • Loss of appetite

  • Pain in the abdomen and chest

  • Facing difficulties in breathing.

A diagnosis is always needed to confirm any medical condition. Apart from the mandatory physical examination in which the doctor check for bloating and pain, certain other crucial diagnostic tests can also be prescribed by the medical professional for an accurate diagnosis. They include:

  • Blood test – to determine the presence of H. Pylori bacteria.

  • H. Pylori stool antigen test – to look for H. Pylori infection.

  • Urea breath test or H. Pylori breath test – to conduct this test, the patient is asked to consume something with radioactive carbon (either in pill or liquid form) and then the breath samples are taken for lab testing procedure which accurately confirms the existence of the bacteria.

  • Gastroscopy – an endoscope is anaesthetically inserted inside the patient’s mouth to view the stomach, duodenum and esophagus for ulcers.

  • Endoscopy biopsy – the same as gastroscopy and in case of an ulcer detection, the samples are taken for clinical purposes.

The treatment options are as follows:

1. Antibiotics (to kill the bacteria, H. Pylori)

2. Antacids (to neutralize the stomach acid)

3. Cytoprotective drugs (to protect the mucous lining of the stomach)

4. Surgical treatment (if the above method fails and the ulcer recurs)

Get accurate diagnosis and treatment for peptic ulcer only from ILS Hospitals, one of the best hospitals in Kolkata and Agartala.

Health

4 Common Gastrointestinal Diseases That You Should Be Aware Of

We all come across articles with catchy titles like ‘best food for weight loss’, ‘worst food during pregnancy’, and so on, isn’t it! Indeed the food we eat determines many health factors for us. However, sometimes the passage of food, the digestive tract, itself gets inflicted with many diseases. In fact, the number of gastrointestinal conditions is on a rise since the past few decades. Let’s take a look at some of the most common ones of them.

Gastrointestinal conditions are the diseases that originate in any or more of the organs of the GI tract and its accessory organs. It includes the esophagus, stomach, gallbladder, liver, pancreas small and large intestine, colon and rectum. A good Gastroenterologist can offer extensive treatment of the same.

Some of the most common GI conditions are as follows.

1. GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease)

Acidity, reflux and heartburn are some most commonly experienced symptoms related to digestion. GERD is the severe form of such acid reflux. It is characteristic by regular acid reflux, often with a sour or bitter taste in the mouth. GERD might be a result of underlying hiatal hernia (for which hernia treatment must be sought immediately) and moreover, untreated GERD can severely harm the esophagus, so it is advised to address it on time.

2. Gallstones

Gallstones is yet another most common GI condition. Gallstones are solidified, crystalline substance that occurs inside the gallbladder. Its size may vary from small granular to big golf ball sized. It causes tremendous pain and can be eased with medicines. However, it is crucial to note that gallstones are mostly impossible to cure with medicine, and it can only be treated permanently with gallstone operation.

3. Gastroenteritis

This is a pathogen infection of the GI tract, which can include, bacteria, virus and parasites. It brings multiple symptoms at once, such as vomiting, diarrhea, headache and also fever. Usually, it is known as common stomach flu. The mild flu can be managed easily with adequate rest, plenty of water and minerals and mild over-the-counter drugs. But it might need some medical treatment, if the symptoms persist for long, or if it triggers again and again. However, these are easily spread and measures should be taken to avoid the possibility.

4. Peptic Ulcers

Unhealthy diet, lifestyle and excessive use of certain medicines can deteriorate the inner membrane of the stomach and expose it to the digestive acids. This results in ulcers and causes several digestive complications, if left unresolved. It often cannot resolve on its own, as the ulcers stay exposed to the enzymes persistently. Thus, its timely treatment is quite important and so is making certain changes in the diet and lifestyle.

There are several other GI conditions as well which need to be treated effectively. At ILS Hospitals, we offer extensive diagnosis treatment for a wide range of GI conditions.