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After an upper endoscopy is performed by the physician, the patient is taken to the recovery room to be monitored for usually about 30 to 45 minutes. At that time, the patient will eventually wake up and discuss their results with their physician, and often be given a copy of the report and pictures to take home with instructions. The risks for a upper endoscopy are very rare, and this is a very safe procedure. Things we tell all of our patients include risk of bleeding, which can be a little higher if a lesion, or a lot of biopsies are removed. The risk of infection, which again is small and can be treated with antibiotics. The reaction or risk of reaction to any sedation medications that are given. And finally, the rare, rare risk of a tear in the lining of the intestine, which is called a perforation and occurs in only reportedly one in 10,000 patients. So again, this is a rare event. After the procedure, the patients are often asked to make a follow-up visit in the office with the physician to review results of biopsies, as well as make a follow-up plan to improve symptoms. In the days or day after the procedure, patients may have just a little bit of soreness in the throat or a little discomfort, but typically that resolves and patients feel well enough to resume their normal activities the day after the procedure.
