Endoscopy for Disease Activity Monitoring
Eosinophilic diseases are lifelong conditions. Symptoms do not always correlate with disease activity, making it important to regularly monitor disease activity. Endoscopies are able to help your child’s physician determine the activity of eosinophilic disease at a given time and how well a treatment is working for your child.
There are two types of endoscopies:
- Traditional Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (e.g., esophagoduodenoscopy)
- Transnasal Endoscopy (TNE)
Traditional gastrointestinal endoscopy is performed under anesthesia in a procedure center or operating room.
Transnasal endoscopy (TNE) does not involve anesthesia and is performed in an outpatient clinic and is used for disease activity monitoring. For TNE, a thin, flexible tube is inserted through the nose while the patient is awake. The tube goes down into the esophagus and to the stomach. There is a small camera at the end of the tube that allows the doctor to look at the esophagus and stomach. To see the lining of the stomach, the doctor puts air into this tube during TNE. Your child may burp or feel a little full. This should not be painful. Tiny tissue samples may be taken during the TNE. These are called biopsies. They are not painful. When the doctor has finished looking with the camera, they will remove the TNE tube. The tube should slide back out easily. Your child’s nose and throat may be sore for a short time after the test is done.
Note: We are performing TNE for established patients at this time. Ask your physician for more information. If you are a new patient interested in TNE, please contact our intake team.
