Progressive medical care
The interdisciplinary team offers specialty pediatric medical, nursing, and dietary services; testing, such as endoscopies, gastroscopies, and colonoscopies; polypectomies; and foreign body removal. The unit also performs digestive system motility testing; such as manometry (muscle pressure measurement) of the esophagus and rectum; esophageal acidity (pH) testing; feeding tube insertion; percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube (PEG) insertion; and liver biopsies.
International research and education
The unit conducts research in a variety of disciplines, publishing findings nationally and globally. Physicians share their expertise by instructing students and physicians on a range of GI topics.
Boosting nutritional knowledge
Nutrition plays and essential role in childhood growth and development—during each life stage: infancy, early childhood, and adolescence. With chronic illnesses, such as failure to thrive; nutrient malabsorption; allergies or food sensitivities; inflammatory intestinal diseases; liver diseases; or other conditions, the nutritional menu has a large influence on children’s health. The Gastrointestinal Unit offers important consultation for both illness-related diet and for full potential for recovery and growth can be realized.
Treating failure to thrive (FTT)
Failure to thrive—poor weight gain, delayed growth and physical development—is a common condition among toddlers and children. The causes may include celiac disease, food malabsorption, difficulty with swallowing or feeding, or psychological problems. The professional pediatric GI staff diagnoses the source of the problem, conducting a comprehensive evaluation and diagnostic testing. Therapeutic recommendations are then made based on the disease, the age of the child, and other important factors. If the problem’s source cannot be identified, the child is monitored by a physician, nutritional counseling is provided, and detailed recommendations for caring for the child are provided.
Specialty GI clinics
- Constipation
- Endoscopy and other diagnostic testing
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Pediatric liver disease
