The Day of Your Endoscopy

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See Also:
Colonoscopy
Gastroscopy
ERCP

Make sure you have nothing to eat after midnight the day before your procedure.

• You can drink CLEAR FLUIDS up until 3 hours before your endoscopy, at which point you must have nothing else to eat or drink. This is very important as it will be unsafe for you to be given sedation if there is food or fluid in your stomach and your procedure will be cancelled! Clear fluids are essentially anything you can see through and include: water, apple juice, white grape juice, white cranberry juice, Gatorade, Kool-aid, carbonated or non carbonated soft drinks, ice popsicles, plain Jello, black coffee or tea (without milk), beef broth or chicken broth.
  

Do not take any red or purple colored drinks, milk products, or alcohol.

Who and What to Bring

• Ensure you bring a friend or family member who can drive you home after the procedure. You will be given sedatives and not allowed to drive.
• Bring a list of your current medications
• If you use a CPAP or sleep apnea machine at home, bring it with you.
• DO NOT wear nail polish, it can interfere with our monitors
• Please observe that the hospital is a scent free area. DO NOT wear perfumes or colognes, and leave your jewelry and valuables at home.

Please report to the Ambulatory Care Unit at NRGH (see the map) at your assigned time (received from your surgeon the day before). 

What to expect

• A nurse will check you in, and review your medications and medical history with you. If not previously done, you will be asked to sign a consent form.
• You will be asked to change into a hospital gown and an intravenous catheter will be placed in your arm.
• Your blood pressure and vital signs will be recorded and you will be brought into the endoscopy room for your procedure.

Following your procedure

• You will be taken to the recovery area where a nurse will monitor your vital signs as you fully wake up from the sedative.
• Once you have fully recovered the intravenous will be removed and you will be allowed to go home with your escort, this usually takes 1-2 hours.
• Your surgeon may or may not want to speak with you following your procedure. Ensure you have your surgeons contact information written down and that you know what the follow plan in to obtain the results of your procedure. This may be via a scheduled phone call, a follow up visit to the office, or simply through a discussion with you after your procedure.
• Your family doctor will receive a written summary of the procedure as well as any pathology reports from biopsies. If you have any questions about your results or follow up, call your surgeon's office.