During an endoscopy and endoscopic surgery, medical professionals insert an instrument with a camera into your body to diagnose and sometimes treat a medical condition. An upper gastrointestinal endoscopy goes into your mouth, down your throat and into your stomach. It can be used to view and collect tissue. It takes photographs that can be seen on a video monitor during the procedure.
Certain endoscopes have been considered unsafe by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Those scopes have disposable covers or caps that lead down into the body. The dangerous caps can become cracked and/or detach during use. This can lead to aspiration, inhalation, tissue damage, bleeding, obstruction requiring urgent removal, and burns.
Olympus has issued a recall of certain lots of their Olympus Single Use Distal Cover MAJ-2315.