In our institute during the past 7 years oesophagoscopy has been performed in 7, 692 cases, among whom urgent oesophagoscopy was carried out in 56 cases with haematemesis and/or melaena. Recently, the flexible fiberscope with an angled tip has been used in oesophagoscopy in almost all cases to lessen the patient's distress. Moreover, the fiberscope is fitted with an automatic apparatus for insufflation of the air, irrigation and suction, so it is possible to examine the lumen of the oesophagus under irrigation for clear observation of bleeding spots.
Among the 56 cases, the ulcer in the upper portion of the gastric corpus and the cardia were most frequently found, i. e., 14 cases, the oesophagogastric varices were found in 8 cases, and the oesophagitis in 8 cases. Oesophageal cancer was found in 4 cases and the Mallory-Weiss syndrome in 2 cases.
In all the cases of haematemesis or melaena from the upper digestive tracts, urgent endoscopy was carried out with combined use of an oesophagofiberscope and a gastrofiberscope without any difficulty. Recently the observation from the esophagus to the bulb of duodenum was carried out with one endoscope, i. e., GIF-D (Olympus) or Panview Fiberscope (Machida).
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