Endoscopy
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Topic pages summarize public health information in plain language. They may describe common causes and treatments in general terms; your own plan of care depends on your clinician’s exam, history, and tests. Use what you read here to prepare questions—not to start, stop, or change medications or to self-diagnose.
Endoscopy is a procedure that lets your doctor look inside your body. It uses an instrument called an endoscope, or scope for short. Scopes have a tiny camera attached to a long, thin tube. The doctor moves it through a body passageway or opening to see inside an organ. Sometimes scopes are used for surgery, such as for removing polyps from the colon.
There are many different kinds of endoscopy. Here are the names of some of them and where they look.:
- Arthroscopy: joints
- Bronchoscopy: lungs
- Colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy: large intestine
- Cystoscopy and ureteroscopy: urinary system
- Laparoscopy: abdomen or pelvis
- Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy: esophagus and stomach