Endoscopy procedures — using a rigid or flexible scope to examine the interior of a hollow organ or cavity in the body — may involve the upper gastrointestinal tract (GI endoscopies), large intestine (colonoscopies and sigmoidoscopies), lower respiratory tract (bronchoscopies) and the urinary tract (cystoscopies) along with a variety of other specialized procedures. Endoscopy procedures generally take 30 to 45 minutes. Patients are usually given intravenous sedation and may recover for up to an hour after the procedure. Recovery time has been reduced significantly in recent years due to the use of shorter-acting sedatives.
An endoscopy suite will have a minimum of two procedures rooms. Suites with six or more endoscopy rooms are rare. Utilization of the suite can vary dramatically depending on whether it is a hospital-based service used by various independent physicians (lower utilization) or whether the suite is owned and operated by an entrepreneurial physician group (higher utilization). The guidelines below can be used to estimate the preliminary space need for a distinct endoscopy suite. Endoscopy rooms are sometimes located within or contiguous with an outpatient surgery suite or incorporated into a medical procedure unit which allows the sharing of patient intake, prep, recovery and other support space. If endoscopy rooms are part of an outpatient surgery suite, a range of 800 to 1,200 DGSF (74.3 to 111.5 DGSM) of incremental space per procedure room is generally required.
- Small suite with two to three procedure rooms — 1,500 to 2,000 DGSF (139.4 to 185.8 DGSM) per procedure room.
- Medium suite with three to four procedure rooms — 1,250 to 1,500 DGSF (116.1 to 139.4 DGSM) per procedure room.
- Large suite with five to six procedure rooms — 1,000 to 1,250 DGSF (92.9 to 116.1 DGSM) per procedure room.
Note: Department gross square feet/meters (DGSF/DGSM) represents the footprint of a department or functional component and includes the net area of the individual rooms as well as the space occupied by internal circulation corridors, walls/partitions, and minor utility shafts. More detailed information can be found in the SpaceMed Guide.