Eating before the gastroscopy
It is important that you arrive for your gastroscopy sober. This means that you must not eat or drink anything with sugar, such as milk or coffee, for at least six hours. If the stomach empties slowly or is suspected of doing so, at least 12 hours of fasting are required.
On the one hand, this prevents accidental inhalation (aspiration) of rising food pulp during the examination, which could cause pneumonia to develop. Also, meaningful examination results, for example, of the condition of the gastric mucosa, can only be obtained when the stomach is empty.
You may drink clear, non-carbonated water up to a maximum of two hours before the gastroscopy.
Smoking before the gastroscopy
You should refrain from smoking from the evening before the gastroscopy, as nicotine stimulates the production of gastric juice. This makes it more difficult to see and can lead to a distorted result. Like food pulp, gastric juice can also rise into the throat during the examination and be accidentally inhaled (aspirated) (risk of pneumonia).
Medication before gastroscopy
As a rule, medication does not have to be discontinued before a gastroscopy.
Blood-thinning medications include acetylsalicylic acid (ASA, well-known trade name Aspirin®), other platelet aggregation inhibitors such as clopidogrel, certain other pain medications, and anticoagulants such as heparin, Marcumar, apixaban, rivaroxaban, or dabigatran.
Major blood vessel injuries rarely occur during tissue sampling. However, inhibited blood clotting can lead to increased blood loss even from minor injuries.
Taking a blood sample to determine clotting ability will help the physician decide on medication as part of the gastroscopy preparation and will also provide information about a hereditary blood clotting disorder that may not have been previously detected.
Inform the examining physician in advance about all medications you are taking. This includes herbal remedies as well as preparations that you have purchased and taken without a prescription. Also tell the doctor about your previous illnesses and known allergies, if he is not already aware of them.
