Endoscopy

Las Posas Veterinary Medical Center and our sister location Channel Islands Veterinary Hospital have been performing endoscopy in-house for over 30 years and are two of only a few hospitals in the area that offers this specialized technology often found only at veterinary specialty facilities and universities.

This minimally invasive procedure allows our veterinarians to see inside your pet’s body and, when necessary, retrieve an object or take biopsies (tissue samples) without having to make an incision.

Endoscopy is most commonly used to examine the inside of the gastrointestinal tract; however, it can also be used to evaluate the upper respiratory tract. The endoscope is particularly valuable when used to retrieve swallowed objects from the stomach, thus preventing a costly and invasive surgery. This means a much less painful and quicker recovery for your pet. To perform this procedure, the veterinarian inserts the endoscope (a long flexible tube with a light source and a lens or camera at one end) into the area to be examined. Utilizing a variety of grasping or biopsy instruments, our veterinarians can either retrieve an object or obtain a biopsy sample for evaluation.

Endoscopy does require that your pet be placed under general anesthesia. However, as with all such procedures, we follow strict protocols and continually monitor your pet’s vital signs to help ensure his or her safety. Please see the descriptions under Anesthesia and Patient Monitoring for more information on what we do to keep your pet safe.

If you have any questions about our endoscopy service or what to expect during your pet’s procedure, please don’t hesitate to contact us.