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Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Changi General Hospital’s Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology specialises in treating gastrointestinal and liver disorders.

The Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Changi General Hospital (CGH) is devoted to the clinical care of patients with gastrointestinal and liver disorders. These include:

• peptic ulcer disease

• gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)

• gastrointestinal bleeding

• functional gastrointestinal disorders or digestive diseases

• inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

• pancreatic and bile duct diseases

• acute and chronic liver disease

• gastrointestinal and liver malignancies

The department is also actively involved in clinical research, as well as both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. The division is a fully-accredited training centre for advanced specialist training in gastroenterology in Singapore.

Clinical Services

The department provides consultations, as well as performs diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, for patients with gastrointestinal and liver diseases. Outpatient consultations are available at general gastroenterology clinics, as well as at a dedicated hepatitis B clinic.

Our specialist doctors manage inpatients in a dedicated gastroenterology ward and provide both intra- and interdepartmental consultative services. Elective diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic procedures are carried out at the department’s Endoscopy Centre.

A dedicated team of gastroenterologists is available around the clock for treating patients with upper or lower gastrointestinal bleeding. The department has a team of specialists with special interest in liver, pancreas, bile ducts and gall bladder disorders. Together with the Surgical Intensive Care team, the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology provides liver dialysis for patients with acute liver failure and decompensated cirrhosis (the final stage of the hepatitis C cycle that relates to liver damage) as a bridge to spontaneous recovery or a liver transplant.

Endoscopy Centre

The Endoscopy Centre is fully equipped to offer a comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy service. These include the following:

Diagnostic Endoscopic Procedures

• gastroscopy

• colonoscopy

• push enteroscopy and balloon-assisted small bowel endoscopy

• endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)

• capsule endoscopy

Interventional and Therapeutic Endoscopic Procedures

1. Basic Therapeutic Endoscopy

• endoscopic haemostasis for non-variceal upper and lower gastrointestinal haemorrhage

• endoscopic haemostasis for variceal haemorrhage

• endoscopic dilatation/stent placement

• endoscopic argon plasma coagulation

• polypectomy (surgical removal of polyps)

• percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) or tube feeding

2. Therapeutic Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)

• basic therapeutic ERCP (such as biliary stenting, papillotomy and biliary stone extraction)

• advanced therapeutic ERCP (such as endoscopic resection of papilla tumours, endoscopic therapy of pancreatic disorders, electrohydraulic lithotripsy for the treatment of large biliary stones (gall stones) not amenable to standard therapeutic ERCP)

3. Interventional and Therapeutic Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS)

• endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided fine-needle aspiration/injection

• EUS-guided therapeutic drainage (such as biliary drainage, pseudocyst, and abscess drainage)

4. Endoscopic Treatment of Gastrointestinal Malignancies

• endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) and endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for the curative treatment of early gastrointestinal cancer and precancerous lesions

• palliative dilatation, stenting and argon plasma coagulation for advanced cancer

5. Other Procedures

• pH studies for assessment of gastroesophageal reflux disease

• manometry studies for the assessment of oesophageal motility disorders

Research Interests

The department is committed to clinical research in the field of gastroenterology and hepatology. It also has a dedicated research unit staffed by clinical research associates, and is actively involved in international, multicentre clinical trials.

This article was last reviewed on Thursday, May 23, 2019