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World J Gastroenterol. Jan 14, 2019; 25(2): 178-189
Published online Jan 14, 2019. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i2.178
Prevention of overuse: A view on upper gastrointestinal endoscopy
Judith J de Jong, Marten A Lantinga, Joost PH Drenth
Judith J de Jong, Marten A Lantinga, Joost PH Drenth, Department of Gastroenterology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen 6500 HB, The Netherlands
Author contributions: de Jong JJ and Lantinga MA contributed to conception and design of the work, and interpretation of the data, and drafted the manuscript; Drenth JPH contributed to conception of the work, interpretation of the data, and revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Joost PH Drenth, MD, PhD, Professor of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Head, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Radboud University Medical Center, P.O. Box 9101, Nijmegen 6500 HB, The Netherlands. joost.drenth@radboudumc.nl
Telephone: +31-24-3613999 Fax: +31-24-3635129
Received: October 30, 2018
Peer-review started: November 1, 2018
First decision: November 22, 2018
Revised: December 6, 2018
Accepted: December 13, 2018
Article in press: December 13, 2018
Published online: January 14, 2019
Processing time: 78 Days and 23.5 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Strategies to halt overuse of upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopies are called for. Dyspepsia represents the indication for the majority of inappropriate upper GI endoscopies and provides a target for intervention. In this review, we describe four strategies that can be used to reduce upper GI endoscopies. While all strategies individually impact the number of performed endoscopies, a collaboration of improved guideline adherence, decision-making assistance, symptom management and Helicobacter pylori screening is most likely to change referral practice.