Our dedicated Endoscopy team assists in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of chronic diseases. Our more than 65 physicians provide a wide variety of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures related to gastrointestinal, pulmonary and cardiac conditions.
We provide services for both outpatients and inpatients in our spacious and state-of-the art facility. Your procedure team will include your physician, a registered nurse, an endoscopy technician and other support personnel who will provide you personalized and high-quality care.
The Endoscopy department at Boswell Medical Center is open from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. For questions about our services, please call us at (623) 832-5334.
We offer the following endoscopy procedures:
- Colonoscopy – uses a lighted, flexible scope – a thin tube with a camera at the end – to examine the rectum and colon. Through the scope, your physician can take biopsies and remove polyps. It is also a beneficial tool for colon cancer screenings.
- Flexible sigmoidoscopy – uses a lighted, flexible scope to examine the rectum and sigmoid colon, the part of the large intestine that leads to the rectum. Polyps can be removed and tissue samples can be gathered with this exam.
- Gastroscopy (EGD/upper endoscopy) – allows your physician to examine the upper part of your gastrointestinal tract, which includes your food pipe (esophagus), stomach and upper small intestine.
- Endoscopic retrograde cholangio pancreatography (ERCP) – helps detect disorders of the pancreas, bile ducts, liver and gall bladder. Blockages or stones can be diagnosed during ERCP and treated via stenting or stone extraction.
- Reflux-PH study – helps determine if reflux occurs and whether it is associated with specific symptoms. During an upper endoscopy, a capsule is placed on the wall of the esophagus and remains there during the 48-hour study.
- Endoscopic ultrasound – uses an ultrasonic scope which allows your physician to view outside the digestive tract. This test can evaluate cancers, masses, stones and cysts, and can obtain biopsies or install drains for fluid collection.
- Capsule endoscopy – examines the middle part of your gastrointestinal tract’s lining with a pill-sized video camera that you swallow. The camera then takes many pictures as it passes through your small intestine. The most common reason for doing a capsule endoscopy is to search for a cause of bleeding from the small intestine. It may also be useful for detecting polyps, inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease), ulcers and tumors of the small intestine.
- Percutaneous gastrostomy tube placement – places a feeding tube through the skin and the stomach wall that then goes directly into the stomach. The tube may be needed for a short period of time or permanently. This procedure may be recommended if you cannot swallow correctly, cannot take enough food by mouth to stay healthy or have ongoing and serious trouble swallowing and can't get enough food or liquids by mouth.
- Bronchoscopy – helps examine the trachea and lungs using a small flexible bronchoscope, a scope specialized for this procedure, to diagnose, treat and document abnormalities. Direct visualization via the scope provides your physician with more detailed images to use for examinations, and to perform non-invasive biopsies and needle aspirations.
- Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) – helps diagnose lung cancer, infections and other diseases causing enlarged lymph nodes in the chest. This technique allows your physician to obtain real-time images in and around the lungs to identify difficult-to-reach tumors. It can be used to biopsy a tissue or fluid sample from the lungs and surrounding lymph nodes of the chest.
- Transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) – uses an ultrasound to create images similar to a routine echocardiogram. TEE images, however, are clearer because they are taken with a scope from inside your body. TEE involves passing a special ultrasound scope through your mouth into your food pipe to take pictures. This procedure allows your physician to visualize the mechanical workings of structures of the heart.