No Referral Required

Upper Endoscopy (EGD)

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No Referral Required

If you have pain in your upper abdomen, difficulty swallowing, nausea or vomiting, an upper endoscopy may help your doctor diagnose your symptoms.

What to Expect

Your doctor will pass an endoscope through your mouth and into your upper gastrointestinal tract. An endoscope consists of a thin, flexible tube with a small light and camera lens, which allows your doctor to view images of your upper GI, including the stomach, esophagus and duodenum.

Prior to the procedure, the patient will receive instructions when to stop eating to prepare for the procedure. The doctor will review your medications and allergies. An anesthetic or sedative may be given to ease discomfort. You may feel slight soreness in your throat and bloating following the procedure, but these side effects will soon subside. EGD results are immediate, while pathology results may take up to two weeks to obtain results.

Frequently Asked Questions

Before the Procedure

Dizziness and headache could be signs of low blood sugar or lack of caffeine. Drinking a regular caffeinated beverage (not diet) or apple juice may alleviate these symptoms.

Gatorade, which comes in many flavors, is an excellent choice as it contains electrolytes such as potassium. Avoid RED/BLUE liquids. We also recommend beef and chicken bouillon (made from cubes not broth).

The color can persist in the colon and make an accurate diagnosis more difficult.

We strongly suggest you do not drink any alcoholic beverages prior to your procedure since they can cause dehydration and some wines may thin your blood.

Yes, but nothing with soft centers or red color. No candy or gum is allowed 4 hours prior to your procedure.

Day of Procedure

Loose comfortable clothing is recommended. You can wear make up but we advise patients not to wear jewelry. If you wear contacts please bring your case and solution so that you can remove them prior to your procedure.

No, since sedatives are used, another driver is needed. This driver MUST stay during the procedure or the procedure will not be performed. This is for your personal safety. You may bring more than one person with you, but only one person can be with you in recovery due to space limitations.

Medication for blood pressure, heart conditions, and seizure should be taken the morning of your exam regardless of the color. Light blue and light pink medications are also fine for you to take.

Yes, please.

Yes, you may wear your dentures to the Endoscopy suite. However, you may be asked to remove them prior to the procedure.

We ask patients to arrive early so that we can do a pre-procedure assessment and start the IV. Please call 864.232.7338 if you are running more than 15 minutes late, so that we can work together to adjust the schedule so that we can accommodate this delay.

After the Procedure

You may have residual anesthesia in your system, additional rest is recommended.

No, please remain home the day of your procedure, due to the sedatives you may not think clearly for several hours. DO NOT DRIVE. You can return to work the day after unless your physician specifically tells you otherwise.

Results are given by the doctor to you in the recovery room. You may or may not remember talking to the doctor so your results will also be in your discharge instructions. Pathology may take up to 2 weeks to get results. We have implemented our Patient Portal to enable you to receive your lab, pathology and radiology test results at your convenience. You may also ask your questions through the portal.  First – Get enrolled in the Portal at GastroAssociates.com. Once Enrolled in the Portal, you will log into your account at nextmd.com. For New Results: You will receive an email notice that new results are ready for your review. You will log into your Portal account to get those results. You must be enrolled within 3 days after your procedure for your results to be posted to the portal.  To Ask Questions, Request an Appointment or Request Copies of Previous Records: You will log into your Portal account and request those services.  **Please note: Enroll in our Patient Portal soon. Results can’t be sent automatically until you have created your portal account. If we have your email address, you will receive an email with the link to the enrollment site.

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