Endoscopy
Endoscopy is a procedure where the doctor uses a special instrument called the endoscope to examine the insides of the body. Endoscopy was originally used for hollow organs such as the intestines (including the oesophagus, stomach and colon), urinary system and airways.
As technology advances, special endoscopes have been created that allow doctors to perform endoscopy in other areas like joints (arthroscopy) and abdominal cavity (laparoscopy).
An endoscope is a medical device consisting of a long, thin, flexible (or rigid) tube. Within this tube, there are fibre-optics which allow light projection as well as a video camera. These then allow the endoscope to illuminate the insides of our body and to capture live images of the organ being examined. The images are projected on a screen.
Diagnostic capability
- It helps the doctor diagnose diseases.
- The clear images provided by the endoscope allow the doctor to know what is wrong within the patient.
- If the doctor sees an abnormality, like a tumour, he can take small biopsies through the endoscope to remove small pieces of the tumour. This is then sent for examination under the microscope to assess the nature of the tumour, mainly to see if it is cancerous or not.
Therapeutic capability
- Endoscopy allows the doctor to give treatment through the endoscope.
- Modern day endoscopes also has working channels within that allows the doctor to pass special instruments like forceps, special scissors, laser fibres, etc.
- Doctors can inject, remove foreign bodies, stop bleeding, and even cut out tumours with such instruments.
Endoscopy can only be performed by specially trained doctors called endoscopists. These doctors have to go through a rigorous training programme before they are given the license (also called accreditation) by the hospital’s authority to perform endoscopy.
Only General Surgeons and Gastroenterologists can perform digestive tract endoscopy.
All of the doctors in Nexus Surgical Associates are trained and accredited endoscopists.
Dr Ho Choon Kiat also served as the Director of Endoscopy Centre of Tan Tock Seng Hospital previously.
All of them are also accepted into the Medisave / MediShield accreditation scheme. This is a scheme by the Ministry of Health Singapore, which allows patients treated by approved doctors to claim from their Central Provident Fund for payment of the endoscopy.
Nexus Surgical Digestive Disease Centre specialises in the diagnosis and management of diseases and conditions affecting our digestive system, which starts from the mouth, and including the oesophagus (gullet), stomach, duodenum, bile ducts and pancreas, small intestine, colon and rectum.
Endoscopy services that are available at Nexus Surgical Digestive Disease Centre includes:
- Gastroscopy (or OGD)
- Colonoscopy
- Sigmoidoscopy
- ERCP
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