Enteroscopy

Enteroscopy includes several types of procedures that allow a physician to look further into, or at the entire length of, the small bowel (which is up to 25 feet long). A physician may use a longer conventional endoscope for push enteroscopy, a double-balloon endoscope, a wireless capsule endoscope, or spiral enteroscopy.

Enteroscopy is primarily used to find sources of intestinal bleeding, but can also be used to find lesions, and determine causes for nutritional malabsorption. Therapies using the Enteroscopy scope include treatment of bleeding lesions, dilation (stretching open) of strictures, removal of polyps or masses, biopsy of abnormal tissue, and removal of foreign objects.

Enteroscopy can be performed in an outpatient or inpatient setting and may require several hours, depending on the therapy required. It is often performed with general anesthesia although some patients may require only moderate sedation. Fluoroscopy, or the use of X-ray, is frequently employed during the procedure. Most procedures are performed through the mouth (antegrade) although the retrograde approach, through the rectum, may allow better access to lesions in the lower part of the small bowel.

At AG, we perform several types of enteroscopy, depending on our patients' needs. Click below to find specific information on these procedures: