- A minimally invasive solution
- No conventional surgery required
- No waiting, a team of experts at your disposal
Endoscopy Unit
Endoscopy is one of the most significant breakthroughs of recent decades in the speciality dealing with the digestive system that allows doctors to visualise conditions that could have only been intuited in the past.
Endoscopy provides a visual examination of the digestive cavity thanks to endoscope, i.e., a thin tube fitted with a lighting system to explore internal ducts through images delivered by a video camera.
Traditional endoscopy assists diagnosis as it allows biopsies to be performed to ascertain whether malignant or benign tumours are present. This technique, for instance, it allows polyps to be excised in order to prevent the growth of a potentially malignant lesion in the future. Therefore, it is an essential prevention tool when dealing with colon cancer.
Advanced endoscopy allows operations to be performed on bile ducts and the pancreas; additionally, tumours can be diagnosed and measured to establish their extension by means of endoscopic echographies (echoendoscopy).
High-resolution endoscopy is available at the endoscopy units run by the IMQ Zorrotzaurre and Virgen Blanca clinics. It is the most efficient, minimally invasive diagnostic technique used to treat diseases involving the digestive system, bile ducts and pancreas and no conventional surgery is required.
Different types of endoscopies
Gastroscopy and colonoscopy are the most frequently used techniques at our Endoscopy Unit. If necessary, biopsies can be taken to study specimens under a microscope and ascertain whether malignant polyps are present to perform a resection.
More and more new endoscopic techniques are being incorporated and named according to where they are applied: bronchoscopy (if inserted in the respiratory system), digestive echoendoscopy, bronchial echoendoscopy, intestinal capsules, etc.
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Gastroscopy or endoscopy helps to visualise and/or operate in the upper segment of the digestive system (oesophagus, stomach and duodenum). It is associated with numerous applications: excision of polyps, treatment of lesions and haemorrhages, etc.
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Colonoscopies or endoscopies of the lower digestive tract visualise the final segment of the small intestine (ileoscopy) as well the entire large intestine. Polyps can be excised, lesions can be tattooed to be found easier during an operation and prostheses can be placed to manage obstructions, etc.
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Endoscopic capsules are used whenever a colonoscopy cannot be performed or is done incompletely. Images of the small intestine or colon can be obtained by swallowing a small, single-use device (a capsule) that must remain inside the body for at least 8 hours. It requires no cables and is fitted with an image-recording device.
Should it be suspected that the capsule might not be able to circulate freely (due to the presence, for instance, of narrower segments or stenosis involving the small intestine) a "patency" biodegradable capsule is administered first that is reabsorbed and eventually disintegrates between 50 and 100 hours after being swallowed. This option is generally used in those cases in which an intestinal obstruction is present.
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Echnoendoscopies are performed by inserting a thin, flexible tube in the mouth or anus. In addition to viewing the area, it also allows echographies to be performed to obtain sharp, high-resolution images.
This technique can be used to monitor the different layers of the digestive tract's wall, for tumour staging, and to assess biliary-pancreatic diseases for the purpose of avoiding radiotherapy. Pancreatic lesions and biopsy lymph nodes can also be punctured outside the digestive tract …
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We also have a Respiratory Endoscopy department at the IMQ Zorrotzaurre Endoscopy Unit where respiratory bronchoscopies and echoendoscopies are performed to measure the extension (staging) of lung tumours.
The IMQ Zorrotzaurre and IMQ Virgen Blanca clinics are working together based on an extensive portfolio of diagnostic explorations and endoscopic interventionisms. The Endoscopy Unit is supplemented by the Digestive Motility Unit in operation at the Clínica IMQ Virgen Blanca, Clinic where the tests listed hereunder are performed:
- Esophageal manometry, indicated, for example, for swallowing difficulties, before operating on hyatus hernias, for non-coronary thoracic pain, etc.
- Rectal-anal manometry, for cases such as fecal incontinence or distal constipation.
PH metering: placement of 24-hour catheters to rule out acid refluxes in, for example, studies connected to coughing, thoracic pain, etc.
Team
Frequently asked questions
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How should I prepare for an endoscopy?
If you are going to undergo an endoscopy, just follow the indications that will be given by the team of professionals with regard to your specific condition.
Generally speaking, endoscopies performed from the mouth require that patients eat no food for at least 6 hours before the exploration is performed to eliminate the presence of any vision-obstructing food. In the case of anal endoscopies, gut-flushing preparations must be taken in advance to eliminate all traces of faecal matter.
As regards certain types of endoscopic interventions, antibiotics must be administered before the process is carried out and admission to hospital is required; moreover, treatments involving the use of certain types of anti-clotting and antiaggregant drugs must be suspended always according to instructions given by the doctor in charge who will decide whether this treatment has to be called off and/or replaced by other options.
As endoscopies are performed under sedation or anaesthesia, patients feel very little discomfort during the process.
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What diagnostic and therapeutic techniques are carried out by means of a gastroscopy/colonoscopy?
- Gastroscopies, colonoscopies, endoscopic polypectomies (polyp resection).
- Treatment of digestive bleeding and hemorrhaeges by means of hemoclips, sclerosis or argon clotting.
- Sclerosis involving esophageal varices.
- Lesion tattooing.
- Dilation of stenosis (narrowing) involving the digestive tract.
- Treatment of haemorrhoids by banding.
- Percutaneous feeding gastrostomies.
- Placement of esophageal-gastric-colonic prostheses.
- Treatment of Barrett with high-grade dysplasia or in-situ CA in situ by means of ablation.
- Mucosal resections.
- Submucosal resection of extensive lesions.
- Treatment of anal fissures by injecting botulinum toxin.
- Placement of nasogastric, nasojejunal catheters …
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What diagnostic and therapeutic techniques are carried out by means of diagnostic endoscopy?
- Diagnostic echoendoscopy of submucosal or sub-epithelial lesions.
- Staging of digestive tumours (oesophagus, stomach, pancreas...).
- Assessment of the biliary-pancreatic region.
- Recto-anal studies.
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What diagnostic and therapeutic techniques are carried out by means of interventionist echoendoscopy?
- Puncturing pancreatic cysts or lesions under study.
- Drainage of pancreatic collections through the gastric cavity.
- Drainage of the bile duct when ERCP fails.
- Drainage of pelvic abscesses.
- Neurolysis of the celiac plexus for pain treatment.
- Gastrojejunostomy.
- Treatment of gastric varices guided by USE.
- Puncturing of adenopathies for tumour staging or to establish the origin.
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What diagnostic and therapeutic techniques are carried out by means of ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography)?
- Extraction of choledocholithiasis (stones-lithiasis involving the bile duct).
- Endoscopic sphincterectomy.
- Placement of prostheses in the biliary and pancreatic ducts.
- Extraction of lithiasis in the main pancreatic duct in pancreatitis.
- Chronic calcifying diseases.
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When does endoscopy have to be used to treat obesity?
Endoscopic techniques are used in the treatment of obesity for:
- Placement of intragastric balloons.
- Endoscopic nterventionism using the Apollo technique.
- Endoscopic interventionism using the POSE technique.
For further information on obesity treatments, please visit our Obesity and Metabolism Unit web site Unidad de Obesidad y Metabolismo.