Ongoing Care and Surveillance

Our aim is to provide high quality clinical services that meet our patients’ needs.

Gastroenterology is such an interesting specialty and one that requires the combined skills of a proceduralist who works in a theatre setting, as well as a thinking and astute diagnostician in consultations. The conditions range from the disorders involving the oesophagus, stomach including Helicobacter Pylori, ulcers, gastric malignancies (lymphoma and adenocarcinomas), obstruction at the pylorus, bleeding from vascular abnormalities, small bowel disease including absorption syndrome, Coeliac Disease as well as many infections of the proximal GI tract. Gastroenterology also comprises the field of liver disease covering treatments for Hepatitis B virus, Hepatitis C virus, Iron and Copper overload, auto-immune diseases that affect the liver, as well as fatty liver infiltration. There are also a wide number of medications that can cause liver function test abnormalities.

The colon is also a very complicated organ and patients can have conditions that cause long term and disabling symptoms including Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, malignancies as well as functional disorders including irritable bowel syndrome (diarrhoea and constipation). Gastroenterologists will also need to consider other colonic disease that are not easily diagnosed on blood testing or conditions that are not obvious at the time of endoscopy such as lymphocytic and collagenous colitis. Diseases of the anus also are not uncommon including difficulty defecating, neuromuscular dysfunction, rectal prolapse, anal stenosis, haemorrhoids, fissures, as well as fistulae.

Many of these complex conditions are chronic, requiring long term follow up and surveillance. Our patients do appreciate their one-to-one contact with our Gastroenterologists, the empathy and the time spent during consultations.

Many patients do require regular endoscopic surveillance procedures to detect new pathologies involving the GI tract, as well as surveillance screening for liver diseases including hepatocellular carcinomas. Many patients with chronic diseases do require long term monitoring of their drug levels and side effects of drugs that are used in gastroenterology. Our patients do feel well looked after by our team of specialists.