Abstract

The presence of foam and bubbles during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (UGE) obscures the view of gastric lesions. Objective: To assess the confidence of a gastric cleansing scale in UGE. Methods: Prospective, multicenter study. The instrument was administered to patients undergoing a UGE examination. For the gastric visualization scale, the stomach was divided in 4 parts and a 1-4 scale was used to classify each part, with a total score of 4 (optimal view of gastric mucosa) and 16 (poor view of gastric mucosa), assessed by 2 independent endoscopists. An initial cleansing score was obtained and later, after cleansing of each studied section, and total. Inter-observer concordance was established by means of Kappa test, and the agreement on the global cleansing score was established with the Bland-Altman plot. Results: 53 patients went under UGE, with an average age of 48,7 years and 62,3% female subjects. The main indication for performing the UGE examination was gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) (32.1%). Average duration of the procedure was 13.6 minutes. The average total gastrointestinal view before cleansing with water was 6.26 points (scale from 4 to 16) and 5.1 points (p < 0.001) after cleansing. 37.7% required at least 50 cc of water for cleansing. The difference in the pre and post cleansing score inter-observers was no different of 0. Kappa value obtained in gastric fundus, upper body, lower body and antrum before cleansing was 0.81; 0.71; 0.9 and 0.8, respectively. Kappa value obtained after cleansing of gastric fundus, upper body, lower body and antrum was 0.84; 0.65; 0.81 and 0.78; respectively. The mean difference between inter-observer scores before cleansing was 0.08 (p = 0.51), and after cleansing, 0.02 (p = 0.78). Conclusions: Using this classification, concordance before and after gastrointestinal cleansing was excellent in antrum, lower body and gastric fundus, and adequate in upper body. This classification is reliable and will allow for the application of different cleansing strategies, for a total and clear view of gastrointestinal mucosa