MEDICAL TEST HEALTH TERMS LEGAL GLOSSARY

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Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy: An upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopy is a procedure that allows your doctor to look at the interior lining of your esophagus, your stomach, and the first part of your small intestine through a thin, flexible viewing instrument called an endoscope. The tip of the endoscope is inserted through your mouth and then gently advanced down your throat into the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum (upper gastrointestinal tract). Through the endoscope, your doctor can look for ulcers, inflammation, tumors, infection, or bleeding. Tissue samples can be collected, polyps can be removed, and bleeding can be treated through the endoscope. Endoscopy can reveal problems that do not show up on X-ray tests, and it can sometimes eliminate the need for exploratory surgery.

Upper Gastrointestinal Series: Examines the upper and middle portions of the gastrointestinal tract using contrast material, fluoroscopy, and x-rays. Before the test, you will swallow liquid barium (barium contrast material) and water. The barium is often combined with gas-producing crystals. Your doctor then tracks the progress of the barium through your esophagus, stomach, and first part of the small intestine using fluoroscopy connected to a video monitor. Several X-ray pictures are usually taken at different times and from different directions. A small bowel follow-through may be done immediately after a UGI to examine the entire 20 ft of the small intestine. An examination of only the throat and esophagus is called an esophagram (or barium swallow). Upper endoscopy, which uses a thin, flexible viewing tube to examine the lining of the esophagus, stomach, and upper small intestine (duodenum), has replaced the UGI test in certain cases.

Urinalysis: A urine test measures several different components of urine, a waste product made by the kidneys. A routine urine screening test may be done to help find the cause for many types of symptoms. The test can provide information about your overall health and clues to many conditions. The kidneys remove waste material, minerals, fluids, and other substances from the blood for elimination in the urine. Therefore, urine can contain hundreds of different bodily waste products. Many factors, such as diet, fluid intake, exercise, and kidney function, affect what is in your urine. There are more than 100 different tests that can be done on urine. 

Urine Culture: A test to detect and identify organisms (usually bacteria) that may be causing a urinary tract infection. Urine in the bladder normally is sterile—it does not contain any bacteria or other organisms (such as fungi)—but a urine sample can pick up bacteria in the urethra during urination. A urine sample is kept under conditions that allow bacteria and other organisms to grow. If few organisms grow, the test is negative. If organisms grow in numbers large enough to indicate an infection, the culture is positive. The types of organisms which cause the infection are identified with a microscope or by chemical tests. Urinary tract infections are more common in women and girls than in men. This may be partly because the female urethra is shorter and closer to the anus, which allows bacteria from the intestines to come into contact more easily with the urethra. Men also have an antibacterial substance in their prostate gland that reduces their risk. If bacteria that can cause infection grow in the culture, another test may be done to determine which antibiotic will be most effective in treating the infection. This is called susceptibility or sensitivity testing

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