Abstract
In recent six months, I stayed in the United States for studying the present status of digestive endoscopy in the United States. So I herein report differences in this field of medical science between Japan and the United States. In the States, as premedication of digestive endoscopy, meperidine and diazepan are given intravenously to put patients in such a somnolent state that they may be readily aroused to respond to given commands. In every case of upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, the esophagus, stomach, duodenal bulb and the second portion of duodenum are examined by a frontal view fiberscope. Colonoscopy is performed usually in the left lateral recumbent position. In many cases, the colon is telescoped for examination. No fluoroscopy, sliding tube and alpha maneuver are utilized. Like the upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, colonoscopy is therefore one of the common examination in daily practice. Personal computer is often used for patient data processing, storage and retrieval. Recently the first electronic endoscope was put on sale in the United States, and this type of endoscope is expected to rapidly come into wide use in the near future. By observing the present status of digestive endoscopy in the United States, I could catch a glimpse of the essence of American medical care system in which patients are given very human but sometimes very active treatment and care at high medical standard based on the excellent medical education system, paying full attention to the patient safety.
