When an endoscopy is done do they always do a biopsy? And if so, wouldn't you be bleeding from where they cut the skin? How does it heal without stitches. When a colonscopy is done and they do a biopsy or remove a polyp how does they keep you from bleeding and how does it heal without stitches to the area?

One, I don't think they routinely do a biopsy with an EGD... my doc didn't.. you can always ask for one to be on the safe side... two, I don't think the biopsy's are even remotely big enough to worry about bleeding...

they only do biopsies if they find something that warrants one. Usually what they biopsy is so small, that there is no reason to worry about bleeding unless you are possibly on blood thinners or have trouble with your blood clotting properly. If they were to find something unusually large or that wouldn't be feasible with the endoscopy they would probably want to biopsy it seperately. They did a small biopsy on something they found in my stomach during my endoscopy, but it wound up being nothing and you wouldn't have even known he did it without him telling you.

Wakkochic17
Thanks for telling me about your experience.

My GI said that during my endoscopy they will check for H.Pylori, which he said is routine. How do they check for this without a biopsy? How else could they determine if there is bacteria? Or is there a blood test done prior to the endoscopy? My sister found out that she had H.Pylori but it was through a blood test. Sorry for all the questions but my appointment is tomorrow and i'm scared :eek:

I had bleeding from the biopsy, but they weren't sure if the bleeding was from reflux also, or just the biopsies.

My GI tested for Pylori by taking a stomach culture... no cutting, just a sample of my stomach contents...

Moesciphish, A stomach culture sounds a lot better than a biopsy. I hope this is what I have done. Thanks for the info, it calms me down a little.

when i asked for tests, i asked for the works...so, there could be a routine collection of tissue for testing. that's all a biopsy is, so i wouldn't be worried unless you get a phone call after. even then it may not be life-threatening, but just something that you need to know before you get the letter with the results.

Thanks for the responses. I think my doctor mentioned taking a biopsy. I'd rather do that repeat the test just for that.