The Rush Approach to Interventional Gastroenterology
At Rush, our focus is on helping you uncover what is causing your digestive discomfort. The interventional endoscopy team diagnoses and treats a wide range of complex gastrointestinal issues.
Our interventional gastroenterologists use a flexible tube with a camera (an endoscope) to look inside your digestive tract. They are then able to find and remove issues in real time. This often allows you to avoid more invasive surgery to treat your condition.
Often, we receive a referral directly from your provider to help them diagnose your condition to create a treatment plan. When that happens, we work closely with your primary gastroenterologist (or other doctor) to make sure your care is coordinated and seamless.
Reasons You May Be Referred to an Interventional Gastroenterologist
You may already have had imaging, but you may need additional testing. That’s when your provider would send you to our team for more advanced imaging — and possible treatment.
Through endoscopy, our interventional gastroenterologists are typically able to diagnose all types of digestive diseases, including pancreatic diseases.
Celia's Story: A Solution For Painful Swallowing
Center for Interventional and Therapeutic Endoscopy
The Rush Center for Interventional and Therapeutic Endoscopy brings world-class care to the Chicago area. We have a team of fellowship-trained interventional endoscopists available to care for complex cases.
We specialize in taking care of many conditions, including diseases of the pancreas and gallbladder, early GI tract cancers, Barrett’s esophagus, achalasia and much more. Because of our team and equipment, we can provide advanced procedures using an endoscope, including bariatric surgery and removal of early GI cancers.
We understand the importance of being seen quickly once referred. We strive to see patients within a couple of days of contacting us. If you need another specialist, our team will work closely with you and your whole care team to make sure you get the care you need.
Meet our interventional gastroenterology partners
Now Available: Endoscopic Pancreatic Cyst Ablation
Rush is the first center in Chicago to offer an incisionless, same-day alternative to surgery for patients whose pancreatic cysts carry a risk of becoming cancer. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided chemoablation of pancreatic cysts uses a targeted dose of chemotherapy to remove the cyst.
Most pancreatic cysts are harmless and only need periodic imaging. But some types can slowly progress toward pancreatic cancer. Until now those patients faced two options: years of surveillance scans or major surgery. Ablation offers a third path — treating the cyst directly, before it has the chance to turn into something dangerous.
The procedure takes under an hour and requires no incisions. With the patient sedated, an endoscopist passes a thin, flexible scope through the mouth to the stomach and small intestine. Ultrasound from the tip of the scope brings the cyst into view, and a thin needle is passed through to drain the fluid inside.
A chemotherapy solution is then delivered into the cyst cavity, where it acts on the cyst locally — so the side effects associated with systemic chemotherapy are uncommon. Most patients go home the same day and return to normal activity within a week. Follow-up imaging tracks the response over the following year. In many patients, the cyst shrinks substantially or goes away completely.
Ablation is an option for select patients, generally those with cysts between 2 and 6 centimeters that meet specific imaging and cyst-fluid criteria. Our pancreatic cyst team will review your imaging and determine whether you are a candidate.
Rush Excellence in Interventional Gastroenterology
- Fast, convenient access: We know that if you have a possible diagnosis of cancer, you want to be seen as quickly as possible. When that’s the case, we work with you to schedule your procedure within two business days. And even if you don’t have suspected cancer, we will work with you to see you within five business days or sooner. We also have interventional gastroenterologists on call 24/7 if emergency procedures are needed.
- An experienced, dedicated team: Our team at Rush performs more than 2,000 procedures a year. And, our specially trained nurses and advanced practice providers are exclusively dedicated to caring for interventional endoscopy patients. That means our team has the experience to quickly identify what is causing your issues—as well as guide you through what to expect before, during and after your procedure.
- Coordinated team-approach to care: If you need care from other specialists at Rush, we’ll help you coordinate that care. We routinely work closely with Rush cancer care experts, colorectal surgery, hepatology and liver transplant, and bariatric surgery teams to ensure your care is coordinated and holistic. For example, some patients experience complications from bariatric surgery performed elsewhere. We address these complications—and can bring in our bariatric surgeons as needed for additional support.
- Options not widely available elsewhere: We offer procedures for the diagnosis and treatment of achalasia that aren’t widely available. For example, the EndoFLIP (or endolumenal functional lumen imaging probe) allows us to provide you with a more definitive diagnosis for achalasia and difficulty swallowing (dysphagia) and the POEM (peroral endoscopic myotomy) procedure offers a nonsurgical treatment for achalasia.
U.S. News & World Report ranked º£½ÇÔ´´ among the best in the nation for gastroenterology an GI surgery care.
