Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS)

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What is endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)?

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is a minimally invasive procedure to assess gastrointestinal diseases. A special endoscope uses high-frequency sound waves to produce detailed images of the lining and walls of your digestive tract nearby organs such as the pancreas and liver, gallbladder and lymph nodes.

When combined with a procedure called fine-needle aspiration/biopsy (FNA/FNB) , EUS allows your doctor to sample (biopsy) fluid and tissue from your abdomen for analysis. EUS with fine-needle aspiration/biopsy can be a minimally invasive alternative to exploratory surgery.

EUS techniques are also used in certain treatments, such as draining collections around stomach, duodenum and pancreas.

Why is EUS performed?

EUS is used to find the cause of symptoms such as abdominal or chest pain, to determine the extent of diseases in your digestive tract, and to evaluate findings from imaging tests such as a CT scan or MRI.

EUS may help in the evaluation of:

  • Cancer of the colon, esophagus, pancreas or stomach, and ampullary and rectal cancers

  • Lymphoma

  • Barrett's esophagus

  • Neuroendocrine tumors

  • Pancreatitis and pancreatic cysts

  • Bile duct stones

EUS can help:

  • Assess how deeply a tumor penetrates your abdominal wall in esophageal, gastric, rectal, pancreatic cancers

  • Determine the extent (stage) of cancer, if present

  • Determine if cancer has spread (metastasized) to your lymph nodes or other organs

  • Evaluate abnormal findings from imaging tests, such as cysts of the pancreas

  • Guide drainage of pseudocysts(collections around pancreas) and other abnormal collections of fluid in the abdomen

  • Permit precise targeting for delivering medication directly into the pancreas, liver and other organs

EUS is performed on an outpatient basis and is well-tolerated by most people with minimal adverse events.

You may not be a candidate for EUS if you have had abdominal surgery that changed your anatomy, such as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.