Endoscopy
Mr Boyle also conducts endoscopies of the upper or lower gastrointestinal tract. What are endoscopies?
Endoscopies are a minimally invasive exploratory procedure used to look at the interior of an organ or cavity of your body - in fact, endoscopy means "looking inside".
An Upper GI endoscopy is commonly used to explore the oesophagus (throat), digestive tract and stomach. It can help diagnose inflammation or hiatus hernias and if needed biopsies can be taken to help confirm a diagnosis.
A colonoscopy is a procedure to look at the inside of your large bowel (colon). You will be asked to take a bowel preparation the day prior to the procedure to ensure the colon is empty to aid visualisation. Again biopsies can be taken during the procedure for further analysis.
An endoscope is a rigid or flexible tube, often less than 1cm in diameter. Patients are almost always under sedation during the procedure. Endoscopy is exploratory, designed to give the surgeon information for use in a diagnosis or treatment recommendation, and such procedures often take less than 30 minutes. For more information, contact Mr Boyle's office.
Colonoscopy
An endoscopic examination of the large bowel and distal part of the small bowel is performed using a camera incorporated into a flexible tube passed through the anus.
Gastro-duodenoscopy
An endoscopic procedure to visualise the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract,. performed using a camera incorporated into a flexible tube passed through the mouth and into the throat and stomach.