Updated on 01.07

Complete Guide to Digestive Endoscopy Consumables: Applications of 31 Accessories

Every successful procedure in the digestive endoscopy center hinges on the precise deployment of high-precision consumables. Be it early cancer screening or complex biliary stone extraction, these unsung behind-the-scenes heroes directly dictate the safety and success rate of diagnosis and treatment. This article comprehensively dissects the functional scenarios, technological innovations and clinical selection rationale of 31 core consumable types, empowering clinicians and patients alike to effectively tackle gastrointestinal disorders.

I. Basic Examination Category (5 Types)

• 1. Biopsy Forceps

- Function: Precisely grasp living tissue samples from the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts for pathological testing (such as early cancer screening). It features a delicate jaw design to minimize tissue damage while ensuring sample integrity.

• 2. Cytology Brush

- Function: Collect cell samples from narrow sites (e.g., esophagus, bile duct) to assist in pathological analysis. The brush head is densely packed with soft bristles to capture sufficient cells without damaging the mucosal surface.

• 3. Indigo Carmine Mucosal Staining Agent

- Function: Highlights the texture of lesioned mucosa after spraying, increasing the early cancer detection rate by 30%. It is a non-toxic dye that is easily washed away and has no adverse effects on the human body.

• 4. Transparent Cap

- Function: Attached to the tip of the endoscope to expand the field of view, assisting in hemostasis, foreign body retrieval, or stabilizing the surgical field. It is made of medical-grade transparent material with good light transmittance.

• 5. Cleaning Brush

- Function: Cleans endoscope channels to prevent cross-infection (single-use is safer). The brush bristles are designed to fit the inner diameter of the endoscope channel, ensuring thorough cleaning of debris and residues.

II. Therapeutic Intervention Category (18 Types)

High-Frequency Electrosurgical Instruments

• 6. High-Frequency Incision Knife

- Function: Used for mucosal marking, incision, and dissection (a core tool for ESD/POEM procedures). It is classified into water-injection type (which injects normal saline to reduce thermal injury to surrounding tissues) and non-water-injection type, suitable for different lesion conditions.

• 7. Electrosurgical Snare

- Function: Resects polyps or tumors (25–35 mm in diameter). The braided steel wire increases the contact area with the lesion, lowers the bleeding risk during resection, and ensures smooth tissue separation.

• 8. Hot Biopsy Forceps

- Function: Electrocoagulates and resects small polyps less than 5 mm, integrating tissue sampling and hemostasis functions. It can complete resection and hemostasis in one step, significantly significantly improving surgical efficiency. The forceps tip adopts a heat-conducting alloy design, ensuring uniform electrocoagulation and reducing the risk of postoperative ulceration or rebleeding. The forceps tip is designed with a heat-conducting alloy, which ensures uniform electrocoagulation and reduces the risk of postoperative ulceration.

• 9. Hemostatic Clips (Titanium Clips)

- Function: Closes wound surfaces or occludes blood vessels, with 360° rotatable angle adjustment. Available in 90°/135° specifications to adapt to deep-tissue operations and different anatomical positions, ensuring firm clipping. The titanium material has excellent biocompatibility, avoiding adverse reactions and enabling safe short-term retention in the body. The titanium material is biocompatible, avoiding adverse reactions and enabling safe long-term retention if needed.

• 10. Nylon Snare Ligation Device

- Function: Ligates the base of pedunculated polyps to prevent delayed bleeding. The nylon snare has strong tensile strength and can tightly wrap the polyp base to block blood supply. It is often used in conjunction with hemostatic clips for large pedunculated polyps, further enhancing the safety of hemostasis after resection. It is often used in combination with hemostatic clips for large pedunculated polyps, further enhancing hemostatic safety.

• 11. Argon Plasma Coagulation Electrode

- Function: Coagulates superficial lesions (e.g., residual adenomas) with a penetration depth of only 0.5 mm, ensuring high safety. It uses argon gas as the medium to avoid direct contact between the electrode and the mucosa, thus reducing unnecessary mucosal damage. It is particularly suitable for coagulating multiple small superficial lesions in a wide range, thus reducing mucosal damage. It is especially suitable for coagulating multiple small superficial lesions in a wide range.

Injection and Sclerotherapy

• 12. Endoscopic Injection Needle

- Function: Used for submucosal injection (to form a lifting sign for subsequent resection), variceal sclerotherapy, or tissue adhesive occlusion. Equipped with 21G needles (for viscous agents like tissue adhesive) and 25G needles (for precision puncture of fragile mucosa). The needle has a retractable design to prevent accidental injury to the mucosa during insertion and withdrawal. The needle tip is sharp and blunt-tip optional, adapting to different tissue characteristics to avoid accidental perforation.

• 13. Ligating Device

- Function: Uses rubber bands to ligate esophageal varices or internal hemorrhoids, capable of releasing ≥ 3 bands in a single session. The device features a quick-release mechanism that ensures accurate positioning and ligation, minimizing trauma to the surrounding tissue and lowering the risk of rebleeding.

• 14. Tissue Adhesive/Sclerosing Agent

- Function: Occludes varicose veins (e.g., cyanoacrylate for gastric fundal vein embolization). The tissue adhesive has fast curing speed and strong adhesion, which can quickly block the varicose veins and stop bleeding; the sclerosing agent can induce endothelial damage and fibrosis of the varicose veins to achieve the purpose of treatment.

Dilation and Stent Placement

• 15. Dilation Balloon

- Function: Provides graded dilation of narrow lumens (esophagus/colon) with diameters ranging from 10–20 mm. It is made of high-elasticity medical polymer material, which can maintain a stable shape during dilation and avoid over-dilation causing lumen injury.

• 16. Gastrointestinal Stent

- Function: Supports malignant strictured lumens; the covered design prevents tumor ingrowth. According to the material, it can be divided into plastic stents and metal stents. Plastic stents are suitable for temporary drainage, while metal stents are more durable and suitable for long-term support of malignant obstructions.

• 17. Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEG) Kit

- Function: Establishes a long-term enteral nutrition pathway for patients unable to eat orally. The kit includes a puncture needle, guidewire, dilator, and gastrostomy tube, which is easy to operate and can reduce the trauma of traditional surgical gastrostomy.

III. ERCP-Specific Category (9 Types)

• 18. Sphincterotome

- Function: Incises the duodenal papilla to open the biliary-pancreatic duct pathway; the curved blade facilitates manipulation. The blade length and curvature can be selected according to the size of the papilla and the anatomical structure, ensuring the safety and effectiveness of the incision.

• 19. Stone Extraction Basket

- Function: Retrieves biliary stones (20–30 mm); stainless steel baskets provide clear visibility under X-ray. The basket has a flexible opening and closing design, which can adapt to stones of different shapes and sizes, and reduce the risk of stone slipping during retrieval.

• 20. Stone Extraction Balloon Catheter

- Function: Removes gravel-like stones; balloon diameter ≥ 8.5 mm ensures high stone clearance rate. The balloon is made of anti-tear material, which can withstand the friction of stones during retrieval and avoid rupture.

• 21. Lithotripter Basket

- Function: Mechanically fragments large stones; the integrated design enables simultaneous lithotripsy and stone retrieval. The basket mesh is dense and has strong compressive strength, which can effectively crush large stones into small pieces that are easy to retrieve.

• 22. Nasobiliary Drainage Catheter

- Function: Provides external bile drainage; the pigtail design prevents dislodgement, with a maximum indwelling time of 7 days. The catheter has multiple side holes to ensure smooth drainage of bile and reduce the risk of biliary obstruction.

• 23. Biliary Stent

- Function: Plastic stents for temporary drainage (3–6 months); metal stents for long-term support of malignant obstructions. The stent has good biocompatibility and can avoid stimulating the biliary mucosa; the outer surface is smooth to reduce the adhesion of bile components.

• 24. Contrast Catheter

- Function: Delivers contrast medium for cholangiopancreatography; single-lumen/double-lumen designs are compatible with guidewire manipulation. The catheter tip is soft and has a hydrophilic coating, which can easily pass through the biliary-pancreatic duct opening and reduce tissue damage.

• 25. Zebra Guidewire

- Function: Guides instruments through complex anatomical structures; the hydrophilic coated tip reduces friction by 60%. The guidewire has good torque control, allowing doctors to accurately adjust the direction in the duct, which is suitable for complex biliary-pancreatic duct anatomical structures.

• 26. Stent Pusher

- Function: Enables precise stent deployment to avoid displacement. The pusher has a scale mark to help doctors grasp the deployment depth accurately; the pushing force is uniform to prevent the stent from deforming during deployment.

IV. Auxiliary Accessory Category (5 Types)

• 27. Bite Block

- Function: Stabilizes the oral cavity to prevent endoscope biting; the tongue-depressing design enhances patient comfort. It is made of soft medical silicone material, which can avoid damaging the oral mucosa and teeth of the patient.

• 28. Neutral Electrode Pad

- Function: Creates a safe electrical circuit for high-frequency current to avoid electric burns (not required for bipolar electrosurgical units). The pad has a large contact area and good conductivity, which can ensure uniform current distribution and reduce skin irritation.

• 29. Irrigation Tube

- Function: Flushes mucus or blood during procedures to maintain a clear surgical field. The tube has a high-flow rate design, which can quickly flush away the contaminants in the surgical field; the tip is adjustable to control the flushing direction.

• 30. Foreign Body Forceps/Mesh Retrieval Snares

- Function: Grasp and retrieve ingested foreign bodies (e.g., coins, dentures). The foreign body forceps have different tip shapes (such as toothed, smooth) to adapt to different foreign bodies; the mesh retrieval snare has a large opening, which is suitable for retrieving small and scattered foreign bodies.

• 31. Water/Air/Suction Valve

- Function: Fingertip-controlled regulation of endoscope water injection, air insufflation, and suction functions. The valve has a good sealing performance, which can avoid leakage of water and air; the operation is sensitive, allowing doctors to adjust the amount of water and air in real time according to the surgical needs.

Notes

• Core Function Coverage: The above classification covers all basic functional units, meeting full-scenario needs ranging from early cancer screening (biopsy forceps, staining agents) to complex surgeries (ESD knives, ERCP instruments).