Services Offered
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
We have an internationally renowned program for inflammatory bowel diseases, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. We offer innovative medical therapies and surgical procedures--including experimental treatments--that are not widely available elsewhere. Examples include strictureplasty and sphincter-saving procedures for colitis that avoid the need for an ileostomy.
Gastrointestinal Cancers
The most advanced therapies for cancer of the colon, rectum, esophagus, stomach, liver and pancreas are available at the University of Chicago Medical Center. In addition to surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, we offer laser and photodynamic therapy, which uses high-density light to treat esophagus cancer and Barrett’s syndrome--a pre-cancerous condition. Immunotherapy and other treatments are also available for certain types of cancer.
Liver Disorders
Physicians from the Center for Liver Diseases provide comprehensive management of liver disorders--from antiviral treatment through liver transplantation. Our hepatitis treatment program includes the latest therapies for chronic hepatitis B and C, including those that are not yet widely available. »Learn more about the Center for Liver Diseases
Nutritional Care
Comprehensive nutritional care for people who suffer from:
- Severe obesity
- Celiac disease
- Malabsorption
- Other problems
We offer nutritional evaluation, indirect calorimetry (calculations of the number of calories a body burns at rest), and parenteral and enteral nutrition--including placement of percutaneous gastrostomy and enterostomy tubes.
Diagnostic Services
A full array of diagnostic tests to detect digestive and liver problems, including state-of-the-art screenings that are not commonly available. These include the following:
- Esophageal motility and manometery
- 24-hour pH monitoring
- Upper GI endoscopy
- Proctoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, and colonoscopy
- Liver biopsy
- Video enteroscopy, an advanced technique to study the causes of gastrointestinal bleeding
- Pancreatic and biliary tract studies, including endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography
- Advanced techniques for diagnosis and sampling of abnormal tissues in the esophagus, pancreas, stomach, and rectum. This includes endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and interventional endoscopy of the esophagus, stomach, pancreas, and colon, as well as fine needle aspiration and mucosal resection of superficial tumors.
- Genetic screening tests for genetic hemochromatosis, the most common genetic disorder in the United States
- Genetic screening and family counseling for hereditary colon cancer and polyposis syndromes.
Additional Advanced Services
- Laser therapy for vascular bleeding of the rectum, as in proctitis and other conditions.
- Small intestine transplantation, in collaboration with our surgeons, for people with severely damaged intestines.
