Experience with the new 4-way, 5.5-mm ultrathin endoscope: a case series.

Background And Study Aims: Use of ultrathin (ut) endoscopes is sometimes limited by their design (outer diameter, tip angulation and image quality). New ut-endoscopes are being designed to address these limitations. A new ut-endoscope, XGIF-PV70N5 (Olympus America Inc.), with an outer diameter of 5.5 mm, 4-way angulation and narrow band imaging has recently been introduced. In this study, we report our subjective experience with this prototype ut-endoscope and discuss the practical uses of its new features.

Patients And Methods: In this prospective case series, ut-endoscopy was performed on selected patients scheduled for endoscopy at a tertiary referral center.

Results: Ut-endoscopy was successfully performed on 15 patients with varied indications. The 4-way angulation proved advantageous but not necessary. Narrow band imaging was not very useful in this group of patients. The image quality was satisfactory.

Conclusions: The prototype ut-endoscope can be used for a broad range of indications. The 4-way angulation may prove advantageous in specific situations and the role of narrow-band imaging remains to be defined.