Patients may have been infected by a “superbug” bacteria during complex endoscopic procedures in UCLA Medical Center

UCLA. US: The UCLA Health System notified 179 patients on Feb. 18 that they may have been exposed last fall to the carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE) bacteria during an endoscopic procedure to diagnose and treat diseases of the liver, bile ducts and pancreas at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. A total of seven patients were infected; the infection was a contributing factor in the death of two patients.

Upper endoscopy (video)

Author: Dr Brian Fennerty Oregon Health and Science University 2008-03-13

Video of an upper endoscopy after the esophagus has been entered including the esophagus, stomach and duodenum: Intubation and normal esophagus

Normal colonoscopy (video)

Author: Dr Brian Fennerty Oregon Health and Science University 2008-03-13

Normal colonoscopy: a couple of small diverticuli (small cave like holes) are seen on the way in

Colonoscopy with diverticulosis and a polyp (video)

 Author: Dr Brian Fennerty Oregon Health and Science University 2008-03-13

Colonoscopy with diverticulosis and a polyp: Small colon polyp (redish bump) and many diverticuli (small outpouches in wall of the colon).

Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

Author: Dr Brian Fennerty Oregon Health and Science University 2008-07-28

I. Introduction to gastrointestinal endoscopy

 

Direct visualization of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract was largely limited to viewing the small section at the top of the digestive system, the esophagus (swallowing tube), and the very end part, the rectum, through rigid instruments using light shining down the shaft of the instrument. This remained the case until the development of flexible fiberoptic instruments in the 1960-70s that allowed light to bend with the instruments (endoscopes) so that organs beyond the very top and bottom of the gastrointestinal tract could now be reached and visualized, such as the whole colon, stomach, duodenum, and upper portion of the small intestine, the jejunum.