Sanjay Jagannath, MD, AGAF, FASGE
Raja Vadlamudi, MD, MPH, FACP
Farah Hussain, MD
RMGGastro Interventional Medicine to Endoscopy
Our practice has many physicians who perform routine as well as high risk therapeutic endoscopy.
Therapeutic endoscopy can be as simple as taking out polyps at the time of a routine screening colonoscopy or dilating the esophagus during upper endoscopy. Procedures such as these are routinely performed at our four endoscopy centers: Wake Endoscopy Center, Clayton Endoscopy Center, Wilson Digestive Diseases Center, and Wake Forest Endoscopy Center.
However, the term “therapeutic endoscopy” is more commonly used to refer to more complex procedures usually requiring the resources of a hospital endoscopy unit. Our practice has many physicians trained in performing therapeutic ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography). This procedure involves endoscopic entry into the pancreatic or biliary ducts, allowing removal of gallstones, stenting of benign or malignant strictures, and treatment of surgical complications such as bile leaks after cholecystectomy. Our physicians are also proficient in the application of APC (argon plasma coagulation) used most often to treat bleeding problems, post-radiation proctitis, vascular lesions of the stomach or colon, as well as removal of large polyps. Our physicians, in conjunction with the Rex Cancer Center physicians as well as the Cancer Centers of North Carolina physicians, help with placements of expandable metal stents, which act as palliative therapy for obstructing tumors of the esophagus, duodenum, or colon. We are a high volume center for perform Endoscopic Ultrasounds (EUS) for staging and endoscopic placement of feeding tubes (PEG or PEJ). We are also the only group in Wake County presently offering balloon enteroscopy, with a dedicated scope-available only at Rex Hospital. This procedure allows deep entry into the small intestine to diagnose and treat bleeding, polyps, and tumors in previously inaccessible organs. Our physicians are highly skilled in minor to advanced therapeutic endoscopy, performing procedures at our four endoscopy centers, Rex Hospital, WakeMed Cary Hospital, WakeMed North Hospital, and WakeMed Raleigh Hospital. Please feel free to call the referral center for a consultation or a second opinion.