Why it’s done

Why a gastroscopy is done

A gastroscopy can be done to check what’s causing your digestive symptoms, treat some conditions or check for cancer.

The cause of your digestive symptoms

A gastroscopy can be done to check what’s causing your digestive symptoms, such as:

• difficulties swallowing or pain when swallowing (dysphagia)
• indigestion, heartburn or stomach pain that does not go away or keeps coming, even if you take medicine
• you keep feeling sick (nausea) or being sick (vomiting), or both
• vomiting blood
• your poo is black and sticky, like tar (there may be blood in it from your stomach)

Treating problems

A gastroscopy can sometimes also be used to treat problems with your digestive system. A gastroscopy can help:

• widen your food pipe (oesophagus) if it’s too narrow and causing pain or difficulties when you swallow
• stop bleeding inside your stomach or oesophagus
• remove growths
• with feeding if you’re unable to eat normally (a gastroscopy can help doctors place a feeding tube into your stomach)

Checking for cancer

A gastroscopy can be used to check for some types of cancer, such as:

• stomach cancer
• oesophageal cancer – this is cancer of the food pipe (oesophagus), the tube connecting your mouth to your stomach

During a gastroscopy a small sample of tissue can be removed from your stomach or oesophagus for testing. This is called a biopsy.

The biopsy is tested to see if there are any cancer cells in it.