What is gastroenterology?

Gastroenterology is a medical specialty focusing on the digestive tract and liver. This field includes all the diseases and problems that can occur in your esophagus, stomach, small intestine, colon, and rectum. It also encompasses the pancreas, gallbladder, bile ducts, and liver.

What health conditions do gastroenterologists commonly treat?

The primary function of your gastrointestinal (GI) tract is to digest and absorb nutrients and eliminate wastes. The gastroenterologists at Spring Hospital diagnose and treat the cause of symptoms such as abdominal pain, blood in stool, bloating, and diarrhea.

The health conditions often treated by gastroenterologists at Spring Hospital include:

• Abdominal pain
• Blood in stool
• GERD and heartburn
• Celiac disease
• Colon cancer
• Hepatitis B and C
• Liver cirrhosis
• Crohn’s disease
• Ulcerative colitis
• Pancreatitis
• Gallstones
• Cholecystitis
• Hemorrhoids
• Diverticular disease
• Peptic ulcer disease
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Diarrhea and constipation

Many of these conditions cause generic symptoms, but the gastroenterologists at Spring Hospital have extensive experience performing diagnostic evaluations and determining the source of your symptoms.

How are gastroenterology conditions treated?

The treatments available for digestive tract problems are just as wide and diverse as the number of conditions. Your treatment may range from a special diet and medication to procedures to remove gallstones, polyps, or intestinal obstructions.

Gastroenterologists treat GERD with antacids and surgery to hold contents inside the stomach. And they aggressively manage conditions that can’t be cured, like cirrhosis.

What type of gastroenterology procedure might I receive?

Gastroenterologists have extensive training in minimally invasive procedures such as endoscopy and colonoscopy. These procedures use scopes to examine your digestive tract and perform surgery to treat problems.

Endoscopes are long, narrow, flexible tubes that your physician inserts through your mouth and then guides down through the esophagus, stomach, and upper part of the small intestine.

Colonoscopies also use a long narrow tube, but they’re performed through the anus. Your gastroenterologist then guides the colonoscope through your large intestine.

Common minimally invasive procedures used in gastroenterology include:

• Endoscopic biliary examination (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography or ERCP)
• Removal of tumors without surgery (endoscopic mucosal resection or EMR)
• Placement of drainage tubes or stents
• Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)
• Flexible sigmoidoscopy
• Upper endoscopy
• Colonoscopy

The gastroenterology team at Spring Hospital also offers colon cancer screenings.

If you have symptoms that affect your gastrointestinal tract, call Spring Hospital today. You can also visit the emergency room if you’re experiencing severe pain or discomfort.