Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Therapeutic and Diagnostic Gastroenterology

The burden to healthcare and the impact of disease to humans from luminal disorders of the gastrointestinal tract have driven the requirement for more efficient endoscopic visualization and instrumentation over the past decade. The push for greater diagnostic yield has driven advances in optical physics and bioengineering which are revolutionizing diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy. Nowadays, Cholangioscopy is an established modality in diagnostic and treatment of pancreatic biliary diseases. The more widespread use and the recent development of new technologies and accessories had renewed the interest of endoscopic visualization of the biliary tract, increasing the range of indications and therapeutic procedures, such as diagnostic of indeterminate biliary strictures, lithotripsy of difficult bile duct stones, ablative techniques for intraductal malignancies, removal of foreign bodies and gallbladder drainage. These endoscopic interventions will probably be the last frontier in the near future.