Experience with the new 4-way, 5.5-mm ultrathin endoscope: a case series.
OBJECTIVE
Use of ultrathin (ut) endoscopes is sometimes limited by their design (outer diameter, tip angulation and image quality). New ut-endoscopes are being designed to address these limitations. A new ut-endoscope, XGIF-PV70N5 (Olympus America Inc.), with an outer diameter of 5.5 mm, 4-way angulation and narrow band imaging has recently been introduced. In this study, we report our subjective experience with this prototype ut-endoscope and discuss the practical uses of its new features.


METHODS
In this prospective case series, ut-endoscopy was performed on selected patients scheduled for endoscopy at a tertiary referral center.


RESULTS
Ut-endoscopy was successfully performed on 15 patients with varied indications. The 4-way angulation proved advantageous but not necessary. Narrow band imaging was not very useful in this group of patients. The image quality was satisfactory.


CONCLUSIONS
The prototype ut-endoscope can be used for a broad range of indications. The 4-way angulation may prove advantageous in specific situations and the role of narrow-band imaging remains to be defined.
Agrawal
Deepak
D
University Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5959 Harry Hines Blvd, POB 1, 520P, Dallas, TX 75390, USA. deepak_ag@yahoo.com
Wong
Richard C K
RC
Isenberg
Gerard
G
Faulx
Ashley
A
Chak
Amitabh
A
D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004066:Digestive System Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D019723:Endoscopes; D016145:Endoscopy, Digestive System / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged