Endoscopy is a treatment technique for cancer of the food pipe (oesophagus), which causes difficulty in swallowing food and water. Surgery, in most such cases, does not help. However, endoscopic dilation of the narrow part of the food pipe and placement of a metal net tube across the tumour does.

The tube is placed with the help of an endoscope under an X-ray monitor; neither does it require anesthesia nor an operation. It is practically painless and can be performed on a conscious patient as an out-patients procedure. Ease in swallowing can be experienced immediately after the procedure.

The tube placement was recently performed at the local Orange City Hospital and Research Institute (OCHRI) by Dr Dhananjay Kane, honorary surgeon and gastrointestinal endoscopist. A covered, self-expanding, 10 cm-long metal stent was placed in a carninoma oesophagus patient. Kharesaid the stent was introduced in early 1996.