Endoscopy
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Gastroscopy (upper endoscopy)The doctor looks at your food pipe, stomach, and the first part of the small bowel with a thin, flexible tube with a camera, passed through your mouth.⏱ the test itself takes 5 to 15 minutesGastroscopy under sedationThe doctor looks at your food pipe, stomach, and the start of the bowel with a thin tube with a camera, while you sleep. The sleep medicine goes into a vein. It is light sleep, not full general anesthesia.⏱ the procedure itself usually takes 10 to 20 minutes, plus 30 to 60 minutes to wake upColonoscopyThe doctor looks inside your large bowel with a flexible tube that has a camera. Small polyps can be removed and samples taken during the same test.⏱ the test itself usually takes 20 to 40 minutes, plus bowel prep the day beforeColonoscopy with sedationThe same colonoscopy, a camera check of the large bowel, but you are asleep. An anesthesiologist gives medicine into a vein and watches you the whole time.⏱ usually 20 to 40 minutes, plus 30 to 60 minutes to wake up; bowel prep the day beforeBowel prep for colonoscopySo the doctor can see the whole bowel, it must be fully cleaned with a special solution. Good prep decides whether the test works.⏱ 3 days of diet, plus one evening and morning of cleansingCapsule endoscopyYou swallow a capsule the size of a large pill. Inside is a camera that takes pictures of your bowel as the capsule passes through it.⏱ swallowing the capsule takes a minute; recording lasts about 8 to 12 hoursBronchoscopyThe doctor looks inside your airways with a thin flexible tube with a camera. It goes in through the nose or mouth. Samples can be taken from the airways.⏱ usually 15 to 30 minutes, plus 1 to 2 hours of observation afterwardsCystoscopyA urologist looks inside your bladder with a thin tube with a camera. It goes in through the urethra, the tube you pee through.⏱ usually 5 to 15 minutes; about 30 minutes with preparationHysteroscopyThe doctor looks inside your womb with a thin tube with a camera. It goes in through the cervix, with no cuts. A sample can be taken or a polyp removed at the same time.⏱ the exam usually takes 10 to 30 minutes, longer with treatment; you usually go home the same dayColposcopyA gynecologist looks at your cervix through a special magnifying device. The device does not go inside your body.⏱ usually 10 to 20 minutesAnoscopy and rectoscopyThe doctor looks at the anus and rectum using a small tube with a light. It is a short exam, usually without anesthesia.⏱ usually 5 to 15 minutesThroat exam (laryngoscopy)An ENT doctor looks at your voice box and vocal cords, with a small mirror through the mouth or a thin flexible tube with a camera through the nose.⏱ usually 5 to 10 minutes