Outpatient Surgery Magazine - Subscribers

Would You Operate On This Patient? - October 2015 - Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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1 7 6 O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5 Flexible GI Endoscopes Image quality and scope handling make the difference. C olonoscopy can be a com- plex process, but in per- formance it simply comes down to visualizing the colon and maneuvering the scope. The gas- trointestinal market offers a range of accessories that claim they will improve a physician's polyp detection rate, but if you're in the market for flexible endoscopes, focus on the main goals: a sharp view and easy, efficient movement. • Image is everything. The quality of the image a scope delivers is the factor that matters most to most physicians in choosing an endo- scope. Unless you're literally conducting a side-by-side comparison of competing systems, which could prove logistically and technically dif- ficult, you might not be able to see a difference between scopes' visu- alization abilities during successive trials. You'll have to trust your sur- geons' insights on the issue, but if they're happy with the image, they'll be happy with the scope. Recent advances such as wider-angle or even retroscopic views have been drawing a lot of attention, though they haven't been conclusively proven to improve care and may carry a learning curve for the most effective use. • Task at hand. For some endoscope users, the feel of the scope is an important consideration, since better ergonomics mean more efficient operation. Most scopes are built the same way, but a compact, light- weight control head that fits in your left hand, with the dials and but- tons exactly where you're used to them, makes flexing the scope tip up, down, left and right easy. If your scopes are going to be shared by a group of physicians, it makes sense to select a model whose control T H I N K I N G O F B U Y I N G … Samir Parikh, MD, FACS, FASCRS z SCOPE SELECTION Physicians will choose the endoscope that brings efficiency to the job.

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