About a gastric lavage

A gastric lavage is an examination of stomach contents. 

The examination is used if you are unable to cough up mucus. The objective is to examine you for tuberculosis.The examination takes place at Lungemedicinsk klinik. For adress, please see the contact information.

Usually, the examination is carried out three times on three different days.

Before the examination

You should abstain from eating and drinking after midnight the previous day. This includes any kinds of medication.

The examination

The examination takes approximately 15 to 30 minutes. During the examination, you sit on a chair or are in bed. A nurse inserts a long thin plastic tube down into the stomach through your mouth or nose. Stomach contents are extracted through the plastictube and sent for analysis. 

The examination is not painful but can be somewhat unpleasant. You can breathe normally throughout the examination.

The results

The result of the examination will take up to 8 weeks to develop. We will let you know if the results turns out positive before then.