An endoscope is a medical instrument that is used to look inside your body. It is a thin, bendy tube with a light and a camera at one end. Tiny cutting tools can also be attached to the end of an endoscope to allow the surgeon to take a sample of tissue.

An endoscope can be inserted through existing entry points in your body, such as through your throat, anus (back passage), or through small cuts that are made by the surgeon.

Depending on the area of the body that is being investigated, and the entry point that is used for the endoscope, an endoscopic biopsy may be performed under either local, or general, anaesthetic.

Where the endoscope is inserted will also depend on the part of your body that is being examined. For example, it might be inserted down the throat in order to look at the lungs or, for female patients, through the vagina and cervix to examine the womb.