Meaning & use
gastroscopy
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable or uncountablemedical
A medical procedure in which a thin flexible tube with a camera is passed down the throat to examine the stomach and gullet.
Grammar: Countable for a single procedure: she had a gastroscopy; uncountable in general.
Patterns
- have a gastroscopy
- a gastroscopy for something
The doctor ordered a gastroscopy to find the cause of her stomach pain.
He was given a mild sedative before the gastroscopy.
A gastroscopy showed a small ulcer.
Word forms
| plural | gastroscopies |
|---|
Common combinations
- undergo a gastroscopy
- She underwent a gastroscopy last week.
- book a gastroscopy
- The surgeon booked a gastroscopy for Tuesday.
- have a gastroscopy
- He had a gastroscopy after months of heartburn.
- gastroscopy results
- We are waiting for the gastroscopy results.
- gastroscopy under sedation
- Most people have the gastroscopy under sedation.
Synonyms and how they differ
- upper endoscopy
- Upper endoscopy is the standard term in American medicine for essentially the same test.
- endoscopy
- Endoscopy is broader and covers looking inside any body cavity, while gastroscopy is only the stomach.
- OGD
- OGD is a hospital abbreviation for oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopy, used by staff more than patients.
- gastric exam
- Gastric exam is a loose phrase and not a precise medical term.
Word family
- gastroscope noun
- the flexible instrument used in the procedure
- gastroscopic adjective
- relating to gastroscopy
- gastric adjective
- relating to the stomach
- gastroenterology noun
- the study of the digestive system
Commonly confused: gastroscopy or colonoscopy?
gastroscopy vs colonoscopy
A colonoscopy examines the large bowel, while a gastroscopy examines the stomach and upper digestive tract.
Practice
To look inside her stomach for an ulcer, the doctor arranged for her to have a ___.
Choose one answer.
A gastroscopy examines the stomach. A colonoscopy looks at the bowel, a mammogram checks the breast, and a biopsy is taking a tissue sample.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “gastroscopy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.