Gastroenterology

Treatment focus

• Anthroposophic medicine (integrative therapy approaches with anthroposophic medicines, phytopharmaceuticals, art therapy, biographical conversation and external applications)
• Chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis)
• Tumour diseases (carcinomas) of the gastrointestinal tract  (oesophagus, stomach, colon, rectum) and of the pancreas, bile ducts and liver
• Functional intestinal diseases (irritable stomach, irritable bowel syndrome)
• Reflux disease
• Acute and chronic liver and biliary tract diseases (hepatitis/hepatoses, primary sclerosing cholangitis [PSC], primary biliary cirrhosis [PBC])
• Acute and chronic diseases of the pancreas
• Detoxification from alcohol and drug dependence
• Weight stabilisation for eating disorders
• Type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus
• Faecal microbiome transfer ("stool transplant")
• Nutritional medicine

Range of services

Endoscopy

• Gastroscopy
• Colonoscopy
• Endoscopy of the rectum (rectoscopy / proctoscopy)
• Endoscopy and visualisation of the bile ducts and pancreatic ducts (ERCP/ERP cholangioscopy/pancreaticoscopy)
• Endosonography (endoscopic ultrasound) of the upper and lower digestive tract incl. tissue extraction (biopsies)
• Endoscopy of the entire small intestine with a balloon endoscope (single-balloon enteroscopy) and motor-driven spiral enteroscopy (PowerSpiral® enteroscopy)
• Video capsule endoscopy of the small intestine

Therapeutic endoscopic procedures

• Polyp ablation incl. ablation of superficial malignant tumours (endoscopic mucosectomy, EMR & endoscopic submucosal dissection, ESD)
• Sclerotherapy and rubber band treatment of oesophageal / gastric varices (rubber band treatment of oesophageal varices / sclerotherapy to fundic varices)
• Dilatation of constrictions (stenoses / strictures) in benign and malignant diseases of the oesophagus, stomach, small and large intestine (bougienage and balloon dilatation)
• Division of oesophageal outpouchings (diverticulotomy for Zenker's diverticulum)
• Placement of feeding tubes through the abdominal wall into the stomach (PEG, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy) and into the small intestine (PEJ, percutaneous endoscopic jejunostomy) incl. suture fixation between the abdominal wall and the anterior wall of the stomach (gastropexy)
• Insertion of plastic and metal stents in the oesophagus, stomach, duodenum, colon/rectum, bile ducts and pancreatic ducts
• Endosonographically assisted placement of trans-gastric (via the stomach) and trans-duodenal (via the duodenum) bile duct/pancreatic duct drains or cyst/abscess drains, including the placement of large stents
• Endoscopic removal of dead material (necrosectomy) in necrotising pancreatitis
• Endoscopic solid wall resections (FTRD® system)
• Endoscopic suture technique (OverStitch® system)

Diagnostic/therapeutic ultrasound procedures

• Ultrasound of the entire abdominal cavity incl. intestinal and perianal ultrasound
• Ultrasound of all accessible lymph node regions
• Ultrasound of the thyroid gland and neck
• Shear wave elastography (tissue stiffness measurement of the liver)
• Ultrasound of the vessels (arterial and venous): all vessels in the abdominal cavity incl. extremities and the extracranial arteries supplying the brain (carotid arteries)
• Ultrasound with contrast medium
• Ultrasound-guided biopsy for tissue extraction from all accessible organs in the abdominal cavity, neck or lymph node regions
• Ultrasound-guided placement of drainage in cysts and abscesses in the entire abdominal cavity
• External bile duct drainage (percutaneous trans-hepatic cholangiodrainage, PTCD)
• Ultrasound-guided heat sclerotherapy of liver tumours (radio frequency ablation, RFA)
• Ultrasound-guided heat sclerotherapy (radio frequency ablation, RFA) of benign thyroid nodules

Functional diagnostics

• H2 exhalation tests (analysis of exhaled air) to detect lactose, fructose and/or sorbitol intolerance and to exclude bacterial overgrowth as well as to determine the transit time of the small intestine
• pH-ometry (acid measurement) and impedance measurement of the oesophagus
• High-resolution oesophageal manometry (pressure measurement in the oesophagus during swallowing)
• High-resolution anorectal manometry (pressure measurement of rectum and sphincter)
• Diagnostic radiological imaging of swallowing (video kinetomatography and porridge swallow) and bronchoscopy (swallow endoscopy)
• EGG (electrogastrography)

Imaging procedures in cooperation with the Radiology Department

• Gastrointestinal passage
• Functional examination of the bowel (defaecography)
• Intestinal transit time determination (Hinton test)
• Small intestine imaging (CT Sellink, MR Sellink)
• Gastric emptying scintigraphy
• X-ray, computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of the abdomen and its organs