Wel of geen gastroscopie?

The diagnostic yield of upper endoscopy in patients below 50 years is most often limited, as many endoscopies are not indicated according to the guideline. This can be explained by a desire for diagnostic certainty, insufficient effort of the physician to educate the patient and the lack of alternative management options for the general practitioner. In part, this can be solved using internet or web-based modules to inform the patient, but the gain would be more substantial if the general practitioner and gastroenterologist try harder to inform the patient themselves instead of requesting an upper endoscopy for a reason they know is not right. Besides that, it could be useful to organize an accessible gastroenterology consultation in the first line, as an alternative to endoscopy.

Conflict of interest and financial support: potential conflicts of interest have been reported for this article. ICMJE forms provided by the authors are available online along with the full text of this article.