Endosonography today: An overview

Abstract

Over the past two decades, the combination of gastrointestinal endoscopy and ultrasonography has shown remarkable progress. This progress has allowed endoscopists to diagnose and treat broad range of not only gastrointestinal disorders but also mediastinal, pancreatic, and perirectal diseases. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) offers a vital complementary role to traditional cross-sectional imaging. EUS helps to obtain tissue samples under real-time ultrasonographic guidance using fine-needle aspiration EUS. The ever expanding use of EUS makes it imperative for primary care providers to be familiar with this technology and its application. This progress has made EUS an integral and necessary part of any good endoscopy unit and is here to stay.

Keywords

• endoscopic
• gastrointestinal
• ultrasound