![]() ![]() What is reflux disease, and what does it look like during an endoscopy? Most of our patients are ready to be discharged home about 20 minutes after the completion of their procedure, after reviewing their written procedure report and any necessary instructions with our nursing staff. While the procedure itself is typically painless, minor throat discomfort may be present on awakening. Most patients sleep through their procedure and begin to awaken shortly after it is completed, prior to being taken by stretcher back to their preparation area, where they are monitored for a few minutes during recovery from sedation. EGD usually takes about 10 minutes of actual instrument-in-the-body procedure time, though technically demanding procedures may occasionally take twice this long. A second nurse or technician will assist the doctor. Once you are asleep the doctor will pass the instrument over your tongue and into your esophagus. ![]() Once everything is ready and your gastroenterologist is in the room, the registered nurse assigned to your sedation and monitoring will administer a sedative under the doctor's direction. You may be asked to inhale an anesthetic (lidocaine) mist, or the nurse may spray this anesthetic into your throat. A plastic mouth guard will also be positioned between your teeth. Either a nasal tube or an oxygen mask will be secured into position to provide oxygen during the procedure and allow for monitoring of exhaled carbon dioxide levels, if needed. When all preprocedure preparations have been completed you will be taken by stretcher to the procedure room (where family members may not be with you), where a variety of monitoring devices (electrocardiographic skin electrodes, blood pressure cuff, finger oxygen sensor) will be placed. Your family member or a friend is welcome to stay with you during this time. You will need to check in at least 45 minutes before your actual planned EGD "start" time to allow for registration and admission to the Southwest Endoscopy Center (Mercy Regional Medical Center requires check in 2 hours prior to the scheduled start time), changing into a medical gown in a private preparation area, a preprocedure nursing assessment, placement of an IV line to allow administration of sedatives during your procedure, and a presedation physician assessment of your general health status and airway (mouth, throat and neck). What happens after I arrive and check in? Open access services are not a covered benefit of the Medicare program. Either the patient or the doctor may decide that an office visit before scheduling the procedure is the best way to go. In some instances an "open access" procedure is not the best option. We are able to offer open access services at this time on a limited case-by-case basis. The forms needed for registration at the time of your procedure are available here. The information you provide is entered into your permanent Digestive Health electronic medical record and forwarded to the physician for final review and approval in advance of your procedure date. Our experienced registered nurses obtain your health history through a convenient telephone interview process at which time they will answer any questions you have about the planned procedure. Our "open access" program is designed with your easy access in mind. In some cases the information that a patient and doctor needs to prepare for the safe and effective performance of an endoscopy can be obtained in other ways. Office visits provide an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with the doctor and talk in detail about the procedure, but they are also costly and time consuming, and require time away from work and other life activities that many people don't wish to spare. Many patients who are thinking about having an endoscopy performed prefer to avoid a traditional doctor's office visit with the gastroenterologist prior to scheduling their procedure. What is an "open access" upper endoscopy? ![]() The endoscope is a long, thin, flexible and steerable tube, which is about the diameter of a small finger, and which passes easily through your mouth and throat structures following the natural food path. Upper endoscopy, or EGD, is an examination of the esophagus, stomach and duodenum (first section of the small intestine) performed by having you swallow an endoscope, usually while sedated. What is upper endoscopy (also called EGD)? ![]()
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