This protection for an endoscope comprises a sheath with a rigid cylindricaltubular part (8), and an associated flexible sleeve. The rigid cylindrical tubularpart (8) is made of a material permitting transport of light. The rigid cylindricaltubular part (8) is treated in such a way as to guide the light from a light sourceat its proximal end (10) to its distal end (12). The distal end (12) of the cylindricaltubular part (8) has means (14, 16) for diffusing and/or orienting the light guidedvia the cylindrical tubular part (8). The endoscope according to the inventionis designed to use a protection according to the invention in order to illuminatethe cavity to be examined in the patient's body.
