IMPROVING OGD STANDARDS- A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Aims The British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) has developed quality standards for endoscopy including photo-documentation of 8 anatomical sites during oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopy (OGD). These standards have been established to improve early cancer recognition. It has also been shown that the use of pre-medication prior to endoscopy improves mucosal visibility which might improve diagnostic yield. The pre-gastroscopy drink used in our endoscopy department is simethicone and N-acetylcysteine. At Royal Sussex County Hospital, we assessed administration of a pre-gastroscopy drink prior to diagnostic OGD and compliance with BSG photo-documentation guidelines in era of digital image capture.

Methods The audit has run over several years in 2019, 2020 and 2021. All elective diagnostic OGDs occurring over the period of one week in each year were reviewed. Data was collected using endoscopy reports in patient notes, as well as Solus Endoscopy software. Data collected included whether pre-endoscopy drink was given, as well as number and anatomical location of the sites captured.

Results In 2021, the pre-gastroscopy drink was given in 65% of cases, compared to 16% in 2020 and 0% in 2019. In 2021, between 7-8 of the recommended anatomical sites were captured in 41% of cases, compared to 14% in 2020 and 4% in 2019.

Conclusions Results showed a significant improvement over the years in the use of the pre-gastroscopy drink prior to diagnostic OGD and a trend in improvement in photo-documentation of the recommended anatomical sites. These improvements can be attributed to ongoing departmental education, as well as the use of visual prompts in the endoscopy unit.

Publication History

Article published online:
14 April 2022