Gastroenterology (Digestive Health)

ECHN’s digestive health services are available at Manchester Memorial Hospital and Rockville General Hospital. Our experienced gastrointestinal (GI) specialists provide screenings, diagnostics and progressive treatments for a wide variety of conditions and diseases to help restore harmony on the inside so you can feel better all over.

Our advanced diagnostic procedures can pinpoint the source of gastrointestinal discomfort, and once diagnosed, patients will receive an individualized treatment plan customized to fit their needs.

Our diagnostic procedures include:

Colonoscopy
The most effective method available to prevent and detect colon cancer. Colonoscopies allow a doctor to look inside the large intestine for abnormalities such as growths and inflamed tissue, which could be early signs of cancer.

Large Polyp Excision
Polyps larger than 2cm are considered large polyps. Larger colon polyps are more difficult to remove, and require an advanced technique gastroenterology procedure or surgical intervention. 

At ECHN, we offer a less-invasive, endoscopic option for treating large polyp growths in the colon. We specialize in performing endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR), a leading-edge procedure that allows for the removal of large colon polyps without surgery.

Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR)
Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) is a minimally invasive procedure that removes abnormal tissue from the lining of the digestive tract. It's used to remove precancerous, early-stage cancer, or other abnormal tissues from the digestive tract. EMR is most effective for tumors that are less than 2 centimeters in diameter, early-stage esophageal or colon cancer, and Barrett's esophagus.

Endoscopy
This procedure allows a doctor to look inside your body through your esophagus using an endoscope, which is a long, thin flexible tube with a tiny camera on it and assessments are made by looking into your stomach and if needed, into your small bowel.

Esophageal Stenting
Esophageal stenting is an endoscopic guided procedure in which a tube called a stent is placed within the esophagus. The stent is used to hold open narrowed portions of the esophagus.  Esophageal stenting is used to support benign and malignant conditions.  Some examples of conditions that can benefit from stent placement include refractory strictures, tracheoesophageal fistulae, iatrogenic perforations, inoperable esophageal cancer, and gastroesophageal junction cancer.

Gastric pH monitoring
This tests for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), by measuring how often stomach acid enters your esophagus and how long it stays there.

Manometry
A test for detecting disorders of your esophagus, it measures your muscle contractions when you swallow.

Barrett’s Ablation
This procedure treats Barrett’s esophagus, a potentially pre-cancerous condition.

ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography)
Used to diagnose diseases of the pancreas, bile ducts, liver and gall bladder, it allows a doctor to perform necessary treatments such as enlarging a bile duct opening, removing gall stones lodge in the duct, inserting a stent, draining the duct or taking tissue biopsies.

Services are administered by a team of digestive health specialists who perform a comprehensive assessment of each patient’s overall digestive health. The team includes:

• Advance Practice Practitioners
• Colorectal surgeons
• Gastroenterologists
• Nurses
• Oncologists