Gastroenterology & Hepatology – Mount Lebanon Hospital University Medical Center

Overview

The Gastro-Enterology Department at Mount Lebanon Hospital University Medical Center is intended to deal with the pathologies of the digestive tract and the liver as a whole, with particular interest in the management of cancer. It forms a part of a multi-disciplinary approach along with General Surgery, Medical Oncology, Radio Oncology, Medical Imaging, and Nuclear Medicine. The facilities are located in a dedicated area of the hospital with units for diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy. The new addition of an Endoscopic Ultra-Sound (EUS) unit complements the Gastro-Enterology facility.

Procedures

The recently introduced Endoscopic Ultra-Sound (EUS), which is a combination of both endoscopy and ultrasonography, benefits from the advantages of the two medical disciplines. EUS complements standard endoscopy when more detailed information is required. The ultrasound transducer located at the distal end of the endoscope would be the closest to any suspicious pathology. It results in high resolution images that allow easy diagnosis and staging of any lesion around the GI tract. The precise definition of the tissue characteristics, hemodynamics, tumor invasion depth (TNM-staging), and trouble-free minimally invasive guided biopsy or Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) guarantee the best possible treatment
Upper GI diagnostic and therapeutic duodenoscopy (haemostasis, polypectomy, mucosectomy, dilatation, prosthetics)
Colonoscopy diagnosis and treatment (hemostasis, polypectomy, mucosectomy, dilatation, prosthetics)
Percutaneous gastrostomy
E.R.C.P. diagnostic and therapeutic biliary-pancreatic (Sphinterotomie, dilation, prosthetic ..)
Liver biopsy

Medical operation is based on the principle of teamwork and complementarity.

A weekly meeting is devoted to the presentation of complex cases and the development of consensus treatment protocols. This meeting is multidisciplinary and combines the services of General Surgery, Medical Oncology, Radio oncology, and other services as appropriate.

Management of digestive cancers is done in a coordinated manner and involves the services:

Gastroenterology
General Surgery
Medical Oncology and Radio-Oncology
Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging

This support includes:

The development of multidisciplinary care protocols for digestive cancers with periodic review.
The multidisciplinary study of records of patients with digestive cancers with prior establishment of care plans