Comprehensive Review of Adverse Events Associated with GI Endoscopy

Charles J. Lightdale, MD, Consulting Editor

Complications directly related to gastrointestinal endoscopy are infrequent, but must be discussed with patients before endoscopy, diagnosed during or as soon as possible after endoscopy, and treated appropriately. One of my old teachers used to call endoscopic adverse events: “the price of doing business.” As GI endoscopy procedures have evolved from largely diagnostic to more interventional, often with therapeutic intent, “the price” has gone up. The most striking recent change is the ability to manage many complications, such as bleeding or perforation, with new endoscopic tools that have been utilized in interventional procedures or that have been designed with the treatment of specific adverse events in mind.

The editors for this issue of the Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Clinics of North America on the subject of “Minimizing, Recognizing, and Managing Endoscopic Adverse Events,” Dr Uzma Siddiqui and Dr Christopher J. Gostout have taken a comprehensive approach to this task. From completing and documenting informed consent, to minimizing complications, and recognizing and successfully managing them when they occur, every endoscopic procedure from common to highly interventional is discussed by a remarkably qualified and experienced group of specialists. This is a clear-eyed, nothing-held-back review of endoscopic complications that should be studied in detail by all gastrointestinal endoscopists and should be available in every setting where GI endoscopy is performed.

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