We are proud to be able to offer upper and lower gastrointestinal endoscopy with a new state-of-the-art video endoscopy unit (Storz Veterinary Endoscopes), that provides endoscopes (cameras) specifically designed for small animal patients and superior imaging quality. Image Several screens allow best visibility for examiners and students during endoscopy. This examination procedure is particularly useful to "have a look" down the stomach or the intestines of patients with chronic problems like vomiting, weight loss and diarrhoea, but can also be used to retrieve foreign bodies that might have been swallowed. It is also used to take small biopsies of the gut mucosa for diagnostic purposes. In addition to this equipment, we also use a new irrigation system to "flush" the intestines during the endoscopy to further improve visualisation.The Storz endoscopy system provides a number of visual enhancement options to allow better characterisation of potentially abnormal findings. One of these is similar to a technique called “Narrow-band imaging” (NBI). For NBI the wavelength of the light used to “look” at the mucosa is changed from “normal” white light to a more narrow spectrum, making the pink mucosa appear more greenish in colour. This allows certain other structures (for example flat growths like polyps or cancers, abnormal vessels) to stand out and makes it less likely to miss them during compared to white light endoscopy. This technique is extensively used in people with gut diseases, but limited information is currently available about how useful it is in dogs and cats. The DIGEST clinic is currently conducting a study to understand its use better (see Research) Image Endoscopic images from the small intestine with the normal \"white light\" settings on the left, and the \"narrow-band imaging\" type setting on the right: This article was published on 2024-09-02
