[Dissemination of endoscopic procedures in gastroenterology. A survey of hospitals in West Germany].

With the aim of establishing the prevalence of diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic procedures in the field of gastroenterology, a survey was conducted of the medical and surgical departments of university hospitals as well as of all other hospitals in the FRG. Of the 1,382 hospitals approached, 1,116 (80.7%) provided the information required. An analysis of the data revealed that in the medical departments of university hospitals, virtually all the diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic procedures are practised, with the exception laser therapy, endoprosthesis implantation and local chemolitholysis. Also, the diagnostic endoscopic procedures have become firmly established in the surgical departments of the university hospitals and the general medical hospitals in the Federal Republic. In contrast, therapeutic endoscopy has not met with unqualified acceptance in the surgical departments of the university hospitals (in particular the pancreo-biliary system) and in the small to medium-sized medical-gastroenterological hospitals (less than 100 medical beds) (in particular endoprosthesis implantation, laser therapy and variceal sclerotherapy).