| Diagnostic examination |
Upper abdominal symptoms that fulfill any of the following criteria:
- Are unresponsive to empiric therapy
- Are associated with alarm symptoms
- New-onset symptoms in a patient greater than 50 years of age
|
| Dysphagia |
| Odynophagia |
| Persistent or recurrent esophageal reflux despite therapy |
| Persistent vomiting of unknown cause |
| Active or recent upper GI bleeding |
Presumed chronic blood loss and iron deficiency anemia if any of the following are present:
- There is clinical suspicion of an upper GI source
- Colonoscopy is negative
|
| Lesion seen on upper GI tract imaging |
| Acute caustic ingestion |
| When sampling of tissue or fluid is indicated |
| Evaluation of diarrhea in a patient suspected of having small bowel disease (eg, celiac disease) |
| Intraoperative evaluation of anatomic reconstructions |
| Screening/surveillance |
| Dysplasia surveillance in patients with Barrett's esophagus |
| Gastric cancer screening in selected patients* |
| Screening for upper GI malignancies in patients with polyposis syndromes or Lynch syndrome |
| Screening for esophageal varices in patients with portal hypertension |
| Screening for squamous cell carcinoma in patients with a history of caustic ingestions |
| Examination to identify upper GI pathology that might influence the treatment of other disorders (eg, evaluating a patient with a history of upper GI bleeding prior to initiating anticoagulation) |
| Therapeutic |
| Treatment of bleeding upper GI tract lesions |
| Prophylactic variceal banding |
| Removal of foreign bodies |
| Placement of feeding or drainage tubes |
| Removal of selected polypoid lesions* |
| Dilation of stenotic lesions |
| Management of achalasia |
| Palliation of stenoses due to neoplasms |
| Endoscopic therapy of intestinal metaplasia |
| Management of operative complications (eg, dilation of anastomotic strictures) |
