What is the difference between an endoscopy and a TNE?

The difference between an endoscopy and a transnasal esophagoscopy is that you need to be sedated for an endoscopy, which increases the risk of complications. Otolaryngologist Jonathan Aviv, MD, explains the difference in detail.

Transcript

00:00

Almost all the risks related to upper GI endoscopy are not from the procedure itself.

00:06

They're from the anesthesia. [SOOTHING MUSIC]

00:14

The differences between traditional upper GI endoscopy and transnasal esophagoscopy--

00:21

and I discuss this in detail in my book "Killing Me Softly from Inside"-- is that with traditional endoscopy,

00:28

you need to be sedated to get that fairly large camera through the mouth and into the esophagus and stomach.

00:36

Almost all the risks related to upper GI endoscopy are not from the procedure itself.

00:42

They're from the anesthesia. And while this risk is very, very small, it is finite and relates to problems breathing,

00:51

heart attack, and stroke. Again, I want to emphasize this. These risks are very, very small. But as soon as you introduce a twilight type of anesthesia,

01:00

this is part of what the risks that you assume when you have this type of procedure. On the other hand, with a Transnasal Esophagoscopy,

01:10

or TNE, you're wide awake. There's no sedation whatsoever. You have a little numbing medicine in your nose.

01:18

That's it. The procedure takes minutes to perform. You get the answers that you need. What are you looking for?

01:24

You want to make sure there's no precancerous lesions in the esophagus, that primarily due to unchecked acid reflux disease.

01:33

And if you have chronic cough, hoarseness, lump-like sensation in the throat, or frequent throat clearing,

01:39

you can have a TNE. So look at this area without having any type of sedation. [AUDIO LOGO]