Your questions answered

Please click below for the answers to our most commonly asked questions. If you can’t find the information you need, contact us and one of the team will be happy to help.

How much do investigations cost?

Common diagnostic procedures are listed below. A full price list is available on request. Please go to ‘Contact Us’.

Video Capsule 

Video capsule – Stomach or Small Bowel            – £1,870

Video capsule – Colon or Whole Bowel                – £2,035

Patency capsule – needed in certain patients      – £139

Breath testing

Urea breath test for presence of H pylori            – £245

Glucose hydrogen breath test for SIBO                – £365

Lactose intolerance breath test                              – £450

Gastric emptying (solid) breath test                     – £495

Other

Heart rate variability (HRV) monitoring             – £635

Transit study  (includes markers and X-ray)      – £265

Echogastrogram (Abdominal ultrasound)          – £330

Electrogastrogram (EGG)                                        – £450

Virtual CT colonography                                          – £700

Consultation fees

First appointment                                                      – £250

Follow up appointment                                            – £175

Video/tele consultation                                            – as above

Do I need a referral?

If you have symptoms that you are concerned about then yes. Please ask your GP.
If you have no symptoms, but would like to undertake a screening test or have a stress monitoring HRV test, just contact us directly.

How do I make an appointment?

There is a Contact Us page and a link below. We will be delighted to help.

Will my test or treatment hurt?

There is no reason why a minimally invasive diagnostic test to examine digestive disease should hurt.

What is a gastroenterologist?

A gastroenterologist is a doctor who specialises in disorders of the digestive system, including the oesophagus, stomach, small and large intestines, liver, gall bladder and pancreas.

What happens when I see a gastroenterologist?

A gastroenterologist will help identify your problem, undertake an investigation or two, and subsequently offer some treatment options. 
In order to do this the gastroenterologist will need to start by asking a few questions (take a history) to identify where your problem lies, what it is like in nature, how long you have had the problem and if there are any other issues which may be significant. The gastroenterologist will want to take a look and then decide a course of action.

What is an endoscopy?

An endoscopy is a procedure where the inside of your body is examined using an instrument called an endoscope. In gastroenterology, endoscopy is either through the mouth, looking at the throat (oesophagus) and stomach, or through the rectum, called colonoscopy, examining the large intestine (colon).

What is a colonoscopy?

A form of endoscopy where the endoscope enters the body through the rectum and which examines the large intestine, otherwise called the colon.

What is minimally invasive gastroenterology?

New technologies, including video capsule endoscopy, non radioactive breath testing, virtual colonoscopy and wearable devices measuring stress, recovery and wellbeing, offer gastroenterologists and patients gentler options and choices when investigating the 7 metres of digestive tract.

What is a video capsule endoscopy?

With miniaturisation, it is now possible to squeeze a wireless “TV studio” into a capsule that, when swallowed, is propelled by the bowel’s natural action from mouth to rectum whilst recording a video of the inner surface of the stomach, small and large intestine.

What is a breath test?

When food is digested, hydrogen and carbon dioxide are released, absorbed from the bowel into the blood circulation and delivered to the lungs where they are released during the exhalation phase of normal breathing. Capturing expired breath in a small bag and measuring expired gases allows the investigation of a number of disorders in patients presenting with symptoms but in whom an endoscopy or video capsule is normal.

What is the brain-gut axis?

The digestive tract is known as the “second brain” as only the brain itself has more nerve connections. These nerves control digestion, bowel movement and sensations arising from the 7 metres of intsetine. The nerves, and especially the vagus nerve, relay messages to and from the brain and this traffic is known as the brain-gut axis. Most individuals recognise that when stressed, like exam time or at an interview, the brain can influence bowels and new research indicates that the bowel and its content can influence the brain. There is now a Lifestyle Assessment test that provides a window to the state of the brain-gut axis. 

For more information talk to one of the MIGe Diagnostics team today

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