Facilities for Gastrointestinal Investigations

Abstract

The gastrointestinal tract was first inspected by rigid instruments. Hippocrates is recorded as having inspected the rectum with a candle, whilst more recently a rigid sigmoidoscope was used by Bozzini in 1795. The stomach had to wait nearly a century to be viewed directly. At that time, von Mickulicz-Radicki, building on the earlier efforts of Kussmaul, finally achieved a successful inspection of the stomach in 1881. Rigid sigmoidoscopes and proctoscopes still have a very important role in the inspection of the rectal and distal colonic mucosa, but rigid gastroscopes have been supplanted by fibreoptic instruments. The development of fibreoptic instruments has occurred in the past twenty years and adoption for routine use in most district general hospitals has been largely due to their simplicity, ease of use and safety for the patient.