About Department
The Department of Gastroenterology was established in June 1987 under the leadership of Professor SR Naik. Dr. Asha Mishra, PhD, senior technician, was the first employee of the department. Ever since the initiation of clinical activities in late 1987, it has been one of the busiest andmost active departmentsof the Institute. It has been consistently rated as one of the top three departments of Gastroenterology in India by independent polls and academic bodies. Today, the department is an established referral centrefor specialized and quality care for patients with Gastroenterologic, Hepatologic and Pancreato-biliary disorders as well as for advanced GI endoscopic procedures. It is the first and still the leading center in India to provide diagnostic facilities for GI motility disorders and GI Pathophysiology testing. The Department is recognized by the Medical Council of India (MCI) for Gastroenterology training since 1989 and admits 6 trainees for the degree of DM in Gastroenterology every year.It is considered to be one of the best centers for training GE post-graduate students and specialists.
The Gastroenterology out-patient department runs five days a week. Besides the General Gastroenterology OPD operating from Monday to Friday,specialty clinics, namely Hepatopancreatobiliary Clinics and Luminal Clinic are functional on Wednesday. The department has 66 beds (50 general ward beds, 10 private suites, 6 short-stay beds for procedures in ERS-2). About 3500 patients are admitted each year. There has been a progressive increase in the clinical workload of the department as it has gained popularity in the state of UP and neighboring states as a Centre of quality care and today, it is catering to a patient load far in excess of the numbers it was designed to handle. The Laboratory and special servicesoffered by the department include Endoscopy Theatre, Gastrointestinal Pathophysiology and Motility laboratory, Gastrointestinal Biochemistry laboratory, Gastrointestinal and Liver serology laboratory with facilities including molecular biology, and serology.
Endoscopy services of the department provide the full range of standard diagnostic and therapeutic procedures commonly practiced (Annexure 1). In particular, the focus is on a wide range of cutting-edge procedures ie. endosonography (EUS)-guided diagnostic and interventional procedures, third space procedures (ESD-SMR, POEM, POEM-G, STER, etc.) and an ever-expanding range of bilio-pancreatic interventions. Expertise is particularly well-developed in cholangioscopy (Spyglass®) with laser lithotripsy, holistic non-surgical management for billiary tract and pancreatic calculi, pancreatic endotherapy for acute pancreatitis and its complications [fluid collections, walled-off pancreatic necrosis (WOPN), disconnected pancreatic duct syndrome (DPDS)], pancreatic endotherapy for chronic pancreatitis and its complications (pain, pancreas divisum, biliary tract obstruction, portal hypertension, including Portal Cavernoma Cholangiopathy,) benign biliary strictures (postoperative, PCC, CP, post-LT, etc.), bile duct injuries, malignant biliary obstruction (Annexure 2). Our department is the referral and rescue center for these procedures in the state of UP and much of northern and central India.
The DM Gastroenterology teaching program has produced 106 alumni since 1989.The department is proud that today, its first alumnus, Dr. RK Dhiman, is the Director of SGPGIMS, Lucknow. About 14 alumni are either Professors in or areheading teaching departments of Gastroenterology. Many of them are in top positions in leading corporate hospitals in India and abroad,have made a name for themselves and have earned laurels for SGPGI. A Post-doctoral Fellowship program in Hepatopancreatobiliary diseases and GI Pathophysiology and Advanced GI Endoscopy is being run in the Department for the last 20 years. Trainees from other DM programs such as those in Vellore,Chennai, Kochi, Trivandrum, Hyderabad, etc. have regularly visited the department and benefitted from our structured training program. The department actively organizes and promoted interactive clinical case discussion for postgraduate medical students and doctors at regional and national levels.Classes are also organized for nurses and technicians of the Department.
The Department has been at the forefront in running secretariats for national specialty societies, associations and medical journals, including Indian Society of Gastroenterology (ISG), India National Association for Study of the Liver (INASL), Indian Motility and Functional Disease Association (IMFDA), UP Chapter of Indian Society of Gastroenterology (UPISG) as well as the Indian Journal of Gastroenterology (IJG).