Since the mid 1900s, esophagoscopy has been performed under sedation or general anesthesia. With transnasal esophagoscopy (TNE), there has been a return to awake, in-office esophagoscopy. Technologic advances have allowed the advent of a ultrathin, flexible esophagoscope that is introduced transnasally, allowing esophagoscopy to be performed in unsedated patients. TNE correlates with convention...

OBJECTIVE To review and summarize the current literature on transnasal esophagoscopy, and to compare information with conventional esophagoscopy. DATA SOURCES Medline (Ovid), book chapters. REVIEW METHODS A thorough review of the literature using the Medline database was performed with the following search terms: esophagoscopy, transnasal esophagoscopy, ultrathin endoscopy, and esophagoscop...

The purpose of this article is to trace the evolution of esophagoscopy from its inception over 100 years ago to its current state of the art. In so doing, the positive consequences that will likely result because of the transition from rigid, per oral, sedated esophagoscopy to flexible, transnasal, unsedated esophagoscopy will be described. Several of the seminal advances in esophagoscopy over ...

Rigid esophagoscopy has been used by otolaryngologists for evaluation of the esophagus for over 100 years. Few studies have examined the diagnostic accuracy of rigid esophagoscopy in patients with carcinoma of the head and neck. The goal of our study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy, complication rate, and costs of rigid esophagoscopy and flexible fiber-optic endoscopy in the evaluation o...