People who experience pain when swallowing or other swallowing difficulties may need to undergo esophageal manometry. The esophagus is a long, muscular tube that connects the throat to the stomach. Esophageal manometry is a specialized test to determine how well the esophagus functions. It measures muscle contractions, a process known as peristalsis, that occur when a person swallows. Manometry also measures the force exerted by those muscles and how well the sphincters at the top and bottom of the esophagus open and close to allow food to pass on its way to the stomach.

During esophageal manometry, we pass a thin, flexible tube called a catheter through the nose, down through the esophagus and into the stomach. Esophageal manometry is helpful in diagnosing pain or difficulty swallowing as well as less common disorders such as achalasia and scleroderma that can affect the esophagus. Achalasia occurs when the lower sphincter fails to relax and allow food to enter the stomach. It can cause swallowing difficulties and regurgitation. Scleroderma is a rare progressive disease in which the esophageal muscles stop working, which leads to severe reflux disease (heartburn/acid reflux, GERD, esophagitis).

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is a technique using sound waves known as ultrasound during an endoscopic procedure to look at or through the wall of the gastrointestinal tract. This technique allows physicians to see organs and structures not typically visible during gastrointestinal endoscopy, such as the layers of the gastrointestinal tract wall, the liver, pancreas, lymph nodes and bile ducts.

Under continuous real-time ultrasound guidance, a thin needle can be advanced into these structures to obtain a sample of the tissue. This technique is known as a fine needle aspiration (FNA). The cells obtained from the FNA can be analyzed for abnormalities such as cancer. EUS with FNA has revolutionized our ability to diagnose and stage cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, Barretts esophagus (a result of heartburn/acid reflux or GERD) and assess the pancreas.

Hemorrhoid banding is an outpatient procedure to decrease the size of internal hemorrhoids or bleeding hemorrhoids. We will use a thin flexible tube with a light and camera to examine for hemorrhoids and place rubber bands on the enlarged hemorrhoidal tissue to decrease the size of the hemorrhoids. Most hemorrhoid treatments can be a real pain in the you-know-what.

Between the messy creams and uncomfortable suppositories, there really aren't many good home-remedy options for the treatment of hemorrhoid symptoms. And who has time to take another warm bath? The truth is that most home hemorrhoid treatments don't really work and when they do offer relief, it's only temporary. They do nothing to remedy the root issue causing the pain, itching, burning, and discomfort.

If you're serious about getting rid of hemorrhoids once and for all, it's time to put down the creams and consider hemorrhoid removal using the CRH O'Regan Hemorrhoid Removal System. CRH offers patients a permanent solution to the problems associated with hemorrhoids and anal fissures through a process called hemorrhoid ligation.

Much less invasive than hemorrhoidectomy surgery, hemorrhoid ligation, also called hemorrhoid banding, is a simple process that can be performed in a doctor's office in just minutes with little discomfort and most patients returning to work the same day. Effective for the treatment of both internal hemorrhoids and external hemorrhoids, hemorrhoid banding offers patients a permanent and painless solution to the discomfort and recovery time associated with other hemorrhoid removal options. Remove your hemorrhoids or bleeding hemorrhoids once and for all.

There are parts of the digestive tract that can be hard to see using conventional methods. That’s where capsule endoscopy comes in. Capsule endoscopy is a painless procedure that allows us to examine the lining of the middle part of the gastrointestinal tract. This segment is typically difficult to approach using traditional endoscopy.

Capsule endoscopy uses a tiny wireless camera to take pictures of the entire digestive tract. The camera sits inside a vitamin-sized capsule that the patient swallows. As the capsule travels through the digestive tract,  the camera takes thousands of pictures that are transmitted to a recorder the patient wears on a belt around the waist or over the shoulder.

The procedure is quite simple. After fasting overnight, the patient swallows a pill-sized camera, which transmits the images taken inside the GI system to the data recorder. We can then view the images in high resolution on a computer screen. Capsule endoscopy is usually indicated for people who have obscure GI bleeding, inflammatory bowel disease or celiac disease (sprue or gluten intolerance), irritable bowel syndrome, abdominal pain, diarrhea or anemia.