Endoscopy - contd.
Endoscopy can be used as a diagnostic tool in pets with esophageal disorders. Symptoms of esophageal disease can include regurgitation, excessive salivation, difficulty swallowing, and apparent pain. Endoscopy allows for thorough evaluation of the lining of the esophagus, and can be used to diagnose a number of esophageal abnormalities. These include foreign bodies, mass lesions or tumors, esophagitis, anatomical defects such as hiatal hernia or gastroesophageal intussusception, and stricture, a narrowing of the esophagus due to scar tissue formation. Endoscopy can have a therapeutic use for patients with foreign bodies within the esophagus, as many foreign objects can be retrieved via endoscopy, eliminating the need for surgery. If endoscopic retrieval is not possible, then the objects may be pushed into the stomach, where they can be removed more easily with surgery. In addition, through an endoscopic technique called bougienage, strictures can be treated: the narrowed areas are dilated with balloons or catheters.
Patients with primary stomach disorders may benefit from endoscopy as well. Unexplained nausea or vomiting, and the presence of blood in the vomitus or in the feces, are indications of possible stomach diseases that may be diagnosed with endsocopy. Gastritis, ulcers, erosions, parasites, tumors, foreign objects, and other anatomical abnormalities often can be diagnosed with endoscopy. As in the esophagus, endoscopy can be used to retrieve many types of foreign objects from the stomach. It can also be used for the placement of feeding tubes directly into the stomach that then exit out of the side of the body wall. These percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, or PEG, tubes provide nutritional support to patients that cannot or will not eat.
Symptoms of intestinal tract disease can include unexplained weight loss, vomiting, chronic diarrhea, the presence of fresh blood in the feces, or straining to have a bowel movement. When other diagnostic tests such as bloodwork and x-rays do not reveal a cause for such signs, endoscopy is often useful in identifying the explanation. At the very least, endsocopy can be used to rule out many of the causes for these signs that can be identified and treated specifically. Intestinal foreign bodies usually need to be removed surgically, but endoscopy is sometimes useful in identifying their presence. Other types of intestinal tract diseases that can be diagnosed by endsocopy include inflammatory bowel disease, colitis, fungal infection, cancer, polyps, strictures, and anatomical defects such as cecal inversion.
