Diagnostic tests at the hospital usually take place at a later date from your initial consultation. Your consultant will liaise with the hospital team to book you in for any required investigations. The same consultant that you saw for your initial consultation will carry out your diagnostic tests.
The most common diagnostic procedures our Consultant Gastroenterologists perform at The Kings Park Hospital are:
- Endoscopy (also known as gastroscopy) – this is when the gastroenterologist inserts a tiny camera on a thin tube down your throat and oesophagus. It allows your gastroenterologist to see from the back of your throat down to your stomach.
- Colonoscopy – this is when a camera on a thin tube is inserted through the rectum and up your large intestine. It gives your consultant a view of your bowels.
- Sigmoidoscopy – this is similar to a colonoscopy, but the camera is not inserted as high up your intestine. It only gives your consultant a view of the lower part of your colon.
Gastroenterologists use these diagnostic tools to investigate unexplained symptoms, understand them, and distinguish one pathology from another.
You are required to fast for these diagnostic procedures, and the hospital team will advise you of the details. Most people have the tests carried out under local anaesthetic and sedation, but you can choose to opt out of sedation if you prefer to be awake.
A colonoscopy also requires you to take bowel preparation medication (a type laxative) the day before your procedure.
After the diagnostic test, your consultant will go through the results with you, what they mean in layman’s terms and how this may determine treatment.
There’s a possibility that you’ll need additional investigations. For example, your consultant may also send you for imaging, such as a computerised tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan or an ultrasound. Scans are helpful if your consultant needs to see areas of your stomach, small intestine or bowel that they cannot see from the above diagnostic procedures.
Ultrasounds, including those of the gall bladder and liver, are carried out at Kings Park Hospital. However, should your consultant advise you need an MRI or CT scan, they will refer you to our sister hospital, The Ross Hall Hospital in Glasgow, for this. Once you have had any scans, you’ll return to Kings Park Hospital to review the results with your consultant gastroenterologist.