Why is an upper GI endoscopy performed?
• Bleeding from the upper GI tract • Unexplained weight loss • Swallowing difficulties • Upper Abdominal pain • Gastric reflux • Vomiting • Anaemia • Nausea Upper endoscopy is more accurate than X-ray for detecting inflammation or smaller abnormalities such as ulcers or tumours. It is able to take biopsies (obtain small pieces of tissue) or cytology (obtain some cells with a fine brush) for microscopic examination to determine the nature of the abnormality, benign or malignant (cancerous).
