Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners logoLink to The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
. 1986 Jan;36(282):6–8.

Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy — a view from general practice

Roger Jones
PMCID: PMC1960352  PMID: 3701695

Abstract

An open-access upper gastrointestinal endoscopy service for general practitioners is described. Between July 1981 and May 1985, 391 endoscopies were performed on 354 patients. In contrast to the results of other studies, demand for endoscopy and the pick-up rate for major lesions has remained steady, and the number of requests for barium meals has fallen by almost a quarter. Major lesions — cancer, gastric and duodenal ulcers and severe oesophagitis — were found in 33% of patients. Oesophagitis accounted for 28% of positive endoscopies and 18% of positive endoscopies in patients with barium negative dyspepsia. With scarce resources there may, however, be a case for `selective' access to upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in the future.

Full text

PDF
6

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Beavis A. K., La Brooy S., Misiewicz J. J. Evaluation of one-visit endoscopic clinic for patients with dyspepsia. Br Med J. 1979 May 26;1(6175):1387–1389. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.6175.1387. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Benjamin S. B., Castell D. O. Chest pain of esophageal origin. Where are we, and where should we go? Arch Intern Med. 1983 Apr;143(4):772–776. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cockel R., Colin-Jones D. G., Schiller K. F. Gastrointestinal endoscopy services--a review of the 70s with predictions for the 80s. Health Trends. 1982 May;14(2):46–49. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cotton P. B. Fibreoptic endoscopy and the barium meal--results and implications. Br Med J. 1973 Apr 21;2(5859):161–165. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5859.161. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Davenport P. M., Morgan A. G., Darnborough A., De Dombal F. T. Can preliminary screening of dyspeptic patients allow more effective use of investigational techniques? Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1985 Jan 19;290(6463):217–220. doi: 10.1136/bmj.290.6463.217. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Davies H. A., Jones D. B., Rhodes J. 'Esophageal angina' as the cause of chest pain. JAMA. 1982 Nov 12;248(18):2274–2278. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Dooley C. P., Larson A. W., Stace N. H., Renner I. G., Valenzuela J. E., Eliasoph J., Colletti P. M., Halls J. M., Weiner J. M. Double-contrast barium meal and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. A comparative study. Ann Intern Med. 1984 Oct;101(4):538–545. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-101-4-538. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Fisher J. A., Surridge J. G., Vartan C. P., Loehry C. A. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy--a GP service. Br Med J. 1977 Nov 5;2(6096):1199–1201. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.6096.1199. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Gear M. W., Barnes R. J. Endoscopic studies of dyspepsia in a general practice. Br Med J. 1980 May 3;280(6223):1136–1137. doi: 10.1136/bmj.280.6223.1136. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Gear M. W., Ormiston M. C., Barnes R. J., Rocyn-Jones J., Voss G. C. Endoscopic studies of dyspepsia in the community: an "open-access" service. Br Med J. 1980 May 3;280(6223):1135–1135. doi: 10.1136/bmj.280.6223.1135. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gibson M. A., Varghese A., Clarke K. E., Irwin W. G., Love A. G. Heartburn for the patient--heartache for the doctor? Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1983 Aug 13;287(6390):465–466. doi: 10.1136/bmj.287.6390.465. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Goldstein F., Thornton J. J., 3rd, Abramson J., McGroarty D. J., Kline I. K. Bile reflux gastritis and esophagitis in patients without prior gastric surgery, with pilot study of the therapeutic effects of metoclopramide. Am J Gastroenterol. 1981 Nov;76(5):407–411. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Holdstock G. E. Open-access endoscopy. Br Med J. 1980 Jun 28;280(6231):1617–1617. doi: 10.1136/bmj.280.6231.1617. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Holdstock G., Wiseman M., Loehry C. A. Open-access endoscopy service for general practitioners. Br Med J. 1979 Feb 17;1(6161):457–459. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.6161.457. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Mann J., Holdstock G., Harman M., Machin D., Loehry C. A. Scoring system to improve cost effectiveness of open access endoscopy. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1983 Oct 1;287(6397):937–940. doi: 10.1136/bmj.287.6397.937. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Rogers I. M., Sokhi G. S., Moule B., Joffe S. N., Blumgart L. H. Endoscopy and routine and double-contrast barium meal in diagnosis of gastric and duodenal disorders. Lancet. 1976 Apr 24;1(7965):901–902. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(76)92113-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners are provided here courtesy of Royal College of General Practitioners

RESOURCES