Digestive Diseases

At Morristown Memorial Hospital's Center for Digestive Health, we're equipped to perform a variety of procedures on patients who have problems with gastrointestinal, liver, pancreatic or nutritional disorders, including:

• 48-Hour Bravo pH Study – A pH sensor is implanted low in the esophagus and information is transmitted to a data recorder. This procedure enables a physician to monitor the acidity level in the esophagus of patients experiencing heartburn.
• Colonoscopy – Using a long, flexible lighted tube called a video colonoscope - the physician visually examines the large intestine or colon.
• Endoscopic Foreign Body Retrieval – Using an endoscope to provide direction, the physician can remove ingested objects from the esophagus, stomach and duodenum.
• Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatogram (ERCP) – This specialized technique is used to study the ducts of the gallbladder, pancreas and liver. It combines the use of x-ray and endoscopy to treat conditions including gallstones, inflammatory strictures, scars, leaks and cancer.
• Endoscopic Ultrasound – Using an endoscope to provide direction, the physician can obtain images of the internal organs in the chest and abdomen via an ultrasound.
• Enteroscopy – During this procedure, a physician examines the small intestine or small bowel with a flexible instrument (scope).
• Esophageal Motility Study – Using a thin, flexible catheter inserted through the patient’s nose, the physician can study the ability of the patient’s esophagus to contract. This is generally performed prior to esophageal surgery to help determine the cause of swallowing difficulties or chest pain.
• Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing with Sensory Testing (FEESST®) – This state-of-the-art procedure uses a thin, fiberoptic scope that is inserted through the nose and into the middle of the throat. Pictures of the throat and voice box are taken while motor and sensory aspects of the patient’s swallowing ability are evaluated. The results provide the physician with dietary and behavioral guidance, and decrease the risk of aspiration pneumonia.
• Flexible Sigmoidoscopy – During this procedure, the physician observes the inside of the large intestine from the rectum through the last part of the colon, which is also called the sigmoid or descending colon.
• HALO – This less invasive treatment for Barrett’s esopghagus removes pre-malignant tissue and allows healthy cells to grow.
• Liver Biopsy – A small piece of tissue from the liver is removed through a needle and examined for signs of damage or disease.
• Minor Surgical Procedures – Any surgery that does not involve anesthesia or respiratory assistance is referred to as a minimally invasive or minor surgical procedure.
• Paracentesis – This needle removes fluid that has collected in the belly.
• Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEG) Feeding Tube Placement – Patients who have difficulty swallowing can be fed and medicated via a tube inserted through the abdominal wall and into the stomach.
• Small Bowel Capsule Procedure – The entire small intestine, or small bowel, is examined via an ingestible, pill-sized video capsule that has its own camera and light source. During the next eight hours, the video capsule travels through the body sending images to a data recorder worn on the patient’s waist belt. Patients are free to move about while the procedure takes place.
• SpyGlass™ – This innovative system uses an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatogram (ERCP) to enable one a physician to directly visualize the bile ducts and allow for tissue sampling and acquisition.
• Upper Endoscopy – Also called esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), this procedure enables the physician to look inside the esophagus, stomach and duodenum. It is helpful in determining what may be causing the patient’s difficulties with swallowing, nausea, vomiting, reflux, bleeding, indigestion, abdominal pain or chest pain.

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Our team is dedicated to making sure our patients receive the best possible care in a pleasant and comfortable environment.