About Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Gastroenterology and Hepatology is a sub-specialty of internal medicine that specializes in the study of the normal function and diseases of the oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, colon and rectum, pancreas, gallbladder, bile ducts, and liver. It involves a detailed understanding of the physiology, motility, normal anatomy and diseased condition (pathology) of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and liver.

Common Diseases

Gastroenterology and Hepatology deals with a vast area of disease conditions including:

Gastrointestinal Diseases	GI Infections – bacterial, viral, fungal infection
	Functional GI disorders – functional pain syndrome over the upper abdomen area, functional colon disorder such as irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea and constipation
	Structural GI disorders – inflammation, ulcers, polyps, cancers along the GI tract Oesophagus – gastroesophageal reflux disease, oesophageal cancer Stomach – Gastritis, Gastric ulcer diseases, gastric cancer Duodenum – duodenal ulcer, polyp, and tumour Small bowel – inflammatory bowel disease, polyps, cancer Colon – colonic polyps, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, haemorrhoids Pancreas – acute and chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer and pancreatic insufficiency disorder Gallbladder – sludge, stone and cancer disease Bile duct – bile duct stones, cancer, and autoimmune disease Papilla – tumour and stricture
Liver Disease	Acute viral hepatitis Chronic hepatitis B and C diseases Alcoholic liver disease Liver cirrhosis and complications Liver cancer diagnosis Non-alcoholic Fatty liver disease/Metabolic-Associated Fatty Liver Disease and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) including fibroscan study Metabolic and autoimmune liver diseases Pyogenic and amoebic liver abscess

Investigations

Modern Gastroenterology and Hepatology involve the application of the latest blood and stool tests including various genetic testing to identify the underlying disease pathogenesis and pathogens. Also, gastroenterologists work closely with radiologists in using various imaging techniques such as CT scan, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), abdominal ultrasound and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to identify the disease process.

Treatments

Apart from drug treatment, gastroenterologists use various modern endoscopic therapies to diagnose and treat various GI diseases including gastrointestinal bleeding, early cancer therapy, and bile duct diseases.

Endoscopic therapies include:

Oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD or gastroscopy)
Colonoscopy
Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)
Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)
Small bowel balloon enteroscopy
Capsule endoscopy
Motility study by high-resolution manometry
Percutaneous endoscopic gastroscopy (PEG) for patients with swallowing difficulty

Minimally Invasive Surgery

Percutaneous Catheter drainage of liver abscess/ biliary system
Percutaneous biliary stenting
Transcatheter arterial chemo-embolisation (TACE) of liver cancer

Our Team

Virtus Gastroenterology & Hepatology specialists

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About Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Gastrointestinal Diseases

Liver Disease