EUS

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is a procedure to examine the inside of your digestive tract. A gastroenterologist (a doctor who specializes in the digestive system) performs an EUS.

An EUS test combines:

• Endoscope, a long, thin, flexible tube with a camera and light on the end.
• Ultrasound, a probe on the end of the endoscope that sends out sound waves to produce images of your organs, tissues and blood vessels.

Who needs an endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) procedure?

Healthcare providers use EUS to evaluate or diagnose:

• Abdominal (belly) pain or chest pain.
• Cancer spread (metastatic cancer).
• Lumps, lesions (abnormal tissue) or growths seen on previous imaging scans like CT scans or MRIs.
• Digestive tract problems, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), colon cancer and anal fissures.
• Gallbladder diseases, including gallstones and cholecystitis (gallbladder inflammation).
• Lung diseases, such as lung cancer.
• Pancreatic diseases, such as pancreatic cancer, pancreatic cysts and pancreatitis.
• Swallowing disorders like Barrett’s esophagus.

What are the types of EUS tests?

An upper endoscopy procedure is an EUS procedure that examines the upper part of the digestive tract, including:

• Lining of the esophagus, stomach and small intestine.
• Lymph nodes, blood vessels, cysts and tumors.
• Nearby organs, such as the pancreas, gallbladder and bile ducts.

A lower EUS procedure examines the lower part of your digestive tract. This includes:

• Anal sphincter (muscles surrounding the anus).
• Blood vessels, lymph nodes, cysts and tumors.
• Lining of the large intestine (rectum and colon).

What other procedures take place during an EUS test?

Your healthcare provider may perform endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration. In this procedure, your provider uses EUS to guide a needle biopsy to remove a small sample of tissue or fluid. The sample goes to a lab where a lab specialist (pathologist) examines it for signs of disease, such as abnormal or cancerous cells.