What to Look for in a Veterinary Endoscope

Endoscopy has a wide variety of useful applications in veterinary medicine—especially GI studies, but also including rhinoscopy, evaluation of the airways and genitourinary systems, laparoscopic surgeries and biopsies, and more.

However, like any diagnostic or surgical procedure, it’s important to have the right tools for veterinary endoscopy. 

For some practices, especially busy referral centers, having a range of endoscopes with different sizes and uses may be a realistic option. However, for most general practices, the budget and expected usage would probably mean it’s more practical to have just one or two “all-around” endoscopes that can be used on many different-sized patients.

Here are some things to think about that can help narrow down the choices, so a veterinary practice can choose the endoscope that best suits their needs…

Rigid or Flexible Endoscopes

One of the most basic categorizations of veterinary endoscopes is whether they are rigid or flexible. This is exactly what it sounds like (i.e., whether the scope can bend or not), and it determines which types of procedures they would be appropriate for.

Here are some of the key differences…

• Images and Views. Rigid endoscopes only allow visual evaluation in one direction—the direction that the end of the scope is facing. To view a new angle or direction, the operator must maneuver the entire scope around. Flexible scopes, on the other hand, have the ability to bend or rotate to obtain a 360-degree view of the area being evaluated.

• Maneuverability. As you might expect, flexible endoscopes have a greater capability to maneuver around corners and follow the natural contours inside of organs like the stomach and intestines. This makes them well-suited to upper GI studies and colonoscopies, which are some of the most common indications for endoscopy. It also means there are some studies in which a flexible endoscope is the only option.

• Types of Studies. As a general rule, rigid endoscopes may be used for studies in which the distance the scope needs to travel is shorter and doesn’t require curving or bending (examples: laparoscopic evaluation and surgery, thoracoscopy, and maybe cystoscopy), while flexible endoscopes can facilitate studies where the scope needs to travel further and bend around curves (examples: upper GI studies, rhinoscopy, and bronchoscopy).

• Learning Curve. Although the functionality of flexible veterinary endoscopes is pretty amazing, it also means there are more functions to learn—thus, potentially a longer learning curve. Rigid endoscopes can be a great option to start with if it suits the types of procedures a veterinarian plans to perform.

Scope Sizes

When deciding which endoscope size to purchase, it’s important to look at both the length and the width/diameter of the tube.

As with so many instruments in veterinary medicine, purchasing decisions are largely based on which sizes of patients are seen. A feline-only practice could probably get away with just having a smaller size scope, whereas a practice that sees everything from small kittens to giant dog breeds might want to have a couple of different sizes of scopes available.

Length is important because it determines how much a veterinarian will be able to see in certain endoscopy studies—particularly GI studies, which might be the most common use for these tools. For example, a longer scope could potentially allow a practitioner to see not only the esophagus and stomach but also pass the instrument through the pyloric sphincter to evaluate the proximal duodenum.

Diameter is important for a couple of reasons. The most obvious is probably the limitations of size, such as the inability to pass a larger scope through a narrow cat nostril or urethra. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean a thinner veterinary endoscope is the best choice. There’s also the matter of passing tools through the channel. A wider diameter makes this easier and may even allow more than one tool to be threaded through and used at once.

Imaging Technology

Video technology has advanced over the years, from fiber optics to HD digital imaging. 

This is important because the better the image and video quality, the more a practitioner will be able to see. Accurate colors mean subtle lesions or inflammation can be better visualized. Accurate video orientation also makes it easier for a veterinarian to see where they are going in order to manipulate tools and obtain biopsies.

A veterinary practice should also consider the hardware and software that will be used not only for viewing during an endoscopy procedure but also for storing and sharing images and videos in the patient’s medical record.

What Else to Look For?

These features provide a great start and foundation when shopping for veterinary endoscopes. In the next article, we’ll cover some additional tools and features to consider prior to an endoscope purchase.

 Written by: Dr. Tammy Powell, DVM