The Medical Centre's Endoscopy Department is structurally part of the Diagnostics Clinic. The endoscopy department is located at the Mustamäe building, B block, 1st floor.
Multidisciplinary cooperation
The special feature of the Endoscopy Department is its multidisciplinary nature and as a result, different medical specialists all contribute to the activity of the department in endoscopic work.
The following staff work together in the Endoscopy Department:
- endoscopy department doctors
- internal diseases department gastroenterologists
- pulmonologists
- thoracic surgeons
- head and neck surgery department doctors
- general surgeons
Modern technology
The department uses high-calibre technology and the doctors and nurses of the department hold high qualifications in their field. We offer high-quality service in performing endoscopic studies and procedures. The goal is to ensure the most minimally invasive and safest pathway in procedures and screenings carried out during diagnosis and treatment of patients’ illnesses.
Specialities within endoscopy
Endoscopy means the study of hollow organs and cavities using an endoscope. Besides examination, endoscopy can be used to take tissue samples (biopsies), remove foreign objects, polyps and small tumours, cauterize bleeding, inject medications and so on.
The following specialized endoscopic procedures are offered by the Endoscopy Department:
1. endoscopy of airways
- laryngoscopy (endoscopic examination of the throat area
- bronchoscopy (endoscopic examination of the trachea and bronchi)
- ultrasound bronchoscopy (similar to conventional bronchoscopy, but allows the mediastinal nodes to investigated and tissue samples to be taken from them using a fine needle method)
- stenting of airways, also known as endoscopic prosthetics
- cryosurgical procedures – procedures for improving capacity of airways used in palliative care of cancer patients
2. digestive tract endoscopy
- oesophageal-gastroscopy (endoscopic examination of the oesophagus and stomach)
- duodenoscopy (endoscopic examination of the duodenum)
- colonoscopy (endoscopic examination of the colon)
- sigmoidoscopy (endoscopic examination of the lower large intestine )
- rectoscopy (endoscopic examination of the rectum, allowing 20-30 cm of the rectum to be investigated)
- enteroscopy (endoscopic examination of the small intestine)
- retrograde cholangiopancreatography - ERCP (endoscopic examination and treatment of the bile ducts and pancreas)
- endoscopic stenting of various regions of the digestive tracts. This technique has allowed to minimize surgical intervention for perforations of the digestive tract, saving the oesophagus in patients who would have previously have lost it.)
- ultrasound oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopy. Ultrasound endoscopy is used in both diagnostics and treatment. Thanks to endoscopic ultrasound, the possibilities for diagnostics of digestive tract illnesses have expanded, and it is possible to take tissue samples from areas where it was previously impossible. Determining the precise stage of neoplastic diseases – gastric cancer in this case - allows treatment to be better planned.
3. Capsule endoscopy
- capsule endoscopy for diagnosing pathologies of the small intestine
- colonoscopic capsule endoscopy for visualizing large intestinal pathologies
While capsule endoscopy does not substitute conventional endoscopies, it does give a way of examining the part of the intestine that is not visualized by other endoscopic examinations.
The Medical Centre is the first hospital in Estonia that has provided, on a permanent basis since January 2007, endoscopic capsule diagnostics for small intestine diseases. From August 2012, we have the possibility of conducting a colonoscopic capsule endoscopic examination for identifying pathologies of the large intestine region as well. Only gastroenterologists, surgeons and paediatricians can provide referrals to capsule endoscopy (GPs should first refer patients to a gastroenterologist). The examinations are conducted in the Endoscopy Department on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Patient information leaflets provide more information on the main procedures and how they are conducted.
Endoscopy Department registration desk 617 2354