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New GI Procedures at St. Francis Medical Center
Gastroenterology focuses on the digestive system and the GI tract which can be the source of illnesses and diseases that can be treated if caught early. Dr. Abdulhadi Quadri discusses new GI procedures that are available at St. Francis Medical Center.
Featuring:
Abdulhadi Quadri, MD
Abdulhadi Quadri, MD is a Gastroenterologist with St. Francis Medical Associates.Transcription:
Joey Wahler (Host): Gastroenterology focuses on the digestive system and the gastrointestinal tract or GI tract as it's known, encompassing a number of bodily functions and can be the source of illness or disease, often very treatable especially if diagnosed early. So we're discussing new GI procedures available at St. Francis Medical Center.
Welcome to the St. Francis Medical Center podcast. I'm Joey Wahler. Our guest is Dr. Abdulhadi Quadri, gastroenterologist at St. Francis Medical Center. Dr. Quadri, thanks for joining us.
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: Thanks for having me.
Joey Wahler (Host): You got it. So let's start by talking about one of these newer procedures. When we say new, we're not necessarily talking about new as in new period, but more new as in at your facility now being offered. And let's begin with something called ERCP.
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: So basically, it's an endoscopic procedure, which is meant to diagnose the diseases of the pancreas and the bile duct systems, the conduit system of the liver.
Joey Wahler (Host): And so what's the procedure for that?
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: The procedure is that the patient is sleeping through the procedure and we pass a tube with a camera built in, reaching the first part of the small intestine where the openings of the bile duct and the pancreas are present. And then, we go inside and use dyes and certain accessories to diagnose certain conditions involving these organs of the body and also treat them. For example, when a patient is having stones in the gallbladder, sometimes these stones can migrate and go down into the bile duct causing obstruction, leading to jaundice or yellow discoloration of eyes and skin. And one of the indications of this procedure is to treat them and take these stones out without the patient undergoing surgery.
Joey Wahler (Host): Really, without undergoing surgery? And so that's called ERCP and is that an in and out procedure?
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: Correct. It's a day surgery procedure. Patient usually comes in, gets this procedure done and, most of the time, ends up going home the same day.
Joey Wahler (Host): And what might be something that would lead up to needing that? Is it something that you would recognize during an exam or something that perhaps even prior to that someone would notice on their own?
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: So, as I explained earlier that, here we are focusing on the issues involving the liver conduits or the bile ducts and the pancreas, which is the gland that is producing insulin and digestive enzymes. Some of the conditions, as I explained earlier, that stones can be formed in the bile ducts causing obstruction. And that leads to patient developing pain and jaundice and fever. So they come to see us and that we can help them with this procedure. Then, this procedure can also be used in some patients who have developed tumors or malignancies of these systems, where again it causes obstruction, and we can go in and relieve the obstruction, take biopsies and samples to make diagnosis, help our surgeons and oncologists, the cancer doctors, to further delineate a treatment plan.
The patients who have chronic pancreatitis for instance, which is a condition where the pancreatic gland gets inflamed on a chronic basis and that can lead to a lot of pain and weight loss and diarrhea and diabetes. And we can also diagnose that using this procedure. And, in some patients who have developed obstruction in the pancreas, we can also open that obstruction by putting certain tubes called stents.
Joey Wahler (Host): And if I'm not mistaken, doctor, the pancreas is one area of the body. Is it not where early intervention if something's going on is extremely important, right?
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: That is very correct.
Joey Wahler (Host): Well, switching gears, there's something called a capsule camera that's been used of late. And I was telling you briefly before we began that I've actually had this used on me by a gastro doctor. Tell us how that works.
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: So basically, a patient comes in the morning fasting. We give them this pill or it's a shape of a capsule, which has a camera built in to swallow with some water and the patient swallows it down. Once it goes past the stomach into the first part of the small intestine, which we could observe on a small screen, which is built into a recorder that patient wears on the belt throughout the rest of the day, we can let the patient go home. And then the patient carries this recorder, during the rest of the day and brings the recorder back at the end of the day, where we can then connect this recorder to the computer, uploading the data. And then we have about eight hours worth of video available to us. Basically what it is with this technology, we're taking a video, which comprises of between 50 to 70,000 images. And then we can analyze the whole video, looking for diseases and making diagnosis for the patient.
Joey Wahler (Host): And so to clarify, someone gets fitted with this device by coming in to see you, then goes home, goes about their day, just kind of carries it around uninvasively for a few to several hours or so, as I recall, and then it transmits the images you need and that's pretty much it. Then you're able to go from there.
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: You got it.
Joey Wahler (Host): Well, moving on. There's also something called ESG, endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty, which is used for weight loss. And of course, so many people are often concerned about that. Tell us how that works.
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: Aside from what we have discussed, these are some of the newer procedures that we are in the process of offering at St. Francis Medical Center. As we know, obesity is a pandemic. More than 35% of our population is obese at present and this is the same number that we find worldwide.
Obesity is a cause of many problems, including heart disease, strokes, arthritis, hypertension diabetes and not to mention 13 different kinds of cancers are on the rise, which are associated with obesity. So to address this problem, we're focusing on prevention. So if we address the weight loss, then in the long run, we're going to be addressing all these medical problems. So what we have available, starting from a dietary and lifestyle modification, which is essential to any weight loss program, we now also have some endoscopic procedures available to us, which would include placing certain balloons inside the stomach, occupying the space, reduces the capacity of the stomach, so the patient ends up eating less and loses weight. Similar procedure, which is called endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty involves using a suturing device, which is attached to the tip of scope or endoscope. And, once we are in the stomach, we basically start creating a sleeve, which is pretty similar to what our surgical colleagues do, except that we're not cutting any part of the stomach out. And since we're not cutting any part of the stomach out or we're not cutting anything from outside either, so this gives the patient a faster recovery and a much lesser complication rate and the patient is able to achieve up to 45 to 50 pounds of weight loss.
Joey Wahler (Host): Wow. And then speaking of endoscopic, there's also the endoscopic resection or removal of tumors that you have available at St. Francis as well, right? Tell us about that.
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: Yeah, that's also some of the procedures that we are trained to do, and they are going to be becoming available in St. Francis in the near future. There are certain early stage tumors, which are superficial and are only limited to the superficial layers of the GI tract wall.
In the past, those tumors, when we would find those tumors, the patient would have to be undergoing surgery to have them removed. But now with the advent of the newer endoscopy procedures, we are able to resect these tumors endoscopically from inside, which is a form of intraluminal surgery. So the patient does not have to undergo any major surgical procedures.
Joey Wahler (Host): So anything else you want to add about any of what we discussed, just to kind of sum it all up and tie a bow on it before we go?
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: I would say that it's an exciting era in the field of gastroenterology. We are making a lot of progress in the field of minimally invasive procedures and the availability of certain new devices and accessories, enabling us to avoid major surgical procedures that were necessary in the past. And we're happy to offer these services to our patients in this area now.
Joey Wahler (Host): And I'm glad you mentioned that there in closing, doctor, the fact that so many of these things we're talking about are minimally invasive, because that certainly, as you well know, puts a lot of people's minds at ease. So I want to tell those of you listening that if you need GI treatment, as you just heard, St. Francis now offers the very latest procedures. Dr. Abdulhadi Quadri of St. Francis Medical Center, thanks so much again.
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: Thank you very much for having me.
Joey Wahler (Host): And for more information about St. Francis or to make an appointment with one of their medical providers, please call (855) 599-SFMC, that's (855) 599-7362 or visit stfrancismedicalcenter.org. If you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social media. And thanks for listening to the St. Francis Medical Center podcast. I'm Joey Wahler.
Joey Wahler (Host): Gastroenterology focuses on the digestive system and the gastrointestinal tract or GI tract as it's known, encompassing a number of bodily functions and can be the source of illness or disease, often very treatable especially if diagnosed early. So we're discussing new GI procedures available at St. Francis Medical Center.
Welcome to the St. Francis Medical Center podcast. I'm Joey Wahler. Our guest is Dr. Abdulhadi Quadri, gastroenterologist at St. Francis Medical Center. Dr. Quadri, thanks for joining us.
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: Thanks for having me.
Joey Wahler (Host): You got it. So let's start by talking about one of these newer procedures. When we say new, we're not necessarily talking about new as in new period, but more new as in at your facility now being offered. And let's begin with something called ERCP.
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: So basically, it's an endoscopic procedure, which is meant to diagnose the diseases of the pancreas and the bile duct systems, the conduit system of the liver.
Joey Wahler (Host): And so what's the procedure for that?
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: The procedure is that the patient is sleeping through the procedure and we pass a tube with a camera built in, reaching the first part of the small intestine where the openings of the bile duct and the pancreas are present. And then, we go inside and use dyes and certain accessories to diagnose certain conditions involving these organs of the body and also treat them. For example, when a patient is having stones in the gallbladder, sometimes these stones can migrate and go down into the bile duct causing obstruction, leading to jaundice or yellow discoloration of eyes and skin. And one of the indications of this procedure is to treat them and take these stones out without the patient undergoing surgery.
Joey Wahler (Host): Really, without undergoing surgery? And so that's called ERCP and is that an in and out procedure?
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: Correct. It's a day surgery procedure. Patient usually comes in, gets this procedure done and, most of the time, ends up going home the same day.
Joey Wahler (Host): And what might be something that would lead up to needing that? Is it something that you would recognize during an exam or something that perhaps even prior to that someone would notice on their own?
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: So, as I explained earlier that, here we are focusing on the issues involving the liver conduits or the bile ducts and the pancreas, which is the gland that is producing insulin and digestive enzymes. Some of the conditions, as I explained earlier, that stones can be formed in the bile ducts causing obstruction. And that leads to patient developing pain and jaundice and fever. So they come to see us and that we can help them with this procedure. Then, this procedure can also be used in some patients who have developed tumors or malignancies of these systems, where again it causes obstruction, and we can go in and relieve the obstruction, take biopsies and samples to make diagnosis, help our surgeons and oncologists, the cancer doctors, to further delineate a treatment plan.
The patients who have chronic pancreatitis for instance, which is a condition where the pancreatic gland gets inflamed on a chronic basis and that can lead to a lot of pain and weight loss and diarrhea and diabetes. And we can also diagnose that using this procedure. And, in some patients who have developed obstruction in the pancreas, we can also open that obstruction by putting certain tubes called stents.
Joey Wahler (Host): And if I'm not mistaken, doctor, the pancreas is one area of the body. Is it not where early intervention if something's going on is extremely important, right?
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: That is very correct.
Joey Wahler (Host): Well, switching gears, there's something called a capsule camera that's been used of late. And I was telling you briefly before we began that I've actually had this used on me by a gastro doctor. Tell us how that works.
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: So basically, a patient comes in the morning fasting. We give them this pill or it's a shape of a capsule, which has a camera built in to swallow with some water and the patient swallows it down. Once it goes past the stomach into the first part of the small intestine, which we could observe on a small screen, which is built into a recorder that patient wears on the belt throughout the rest of the day, we can let the patient go home. And then the patient carries this recorder, during the rest of the day and brings the recorder back at the end of the day, where we can then connect this recorder to the computer, uploading the data. And then we have about eight hours worth of video available to us. Basically what it is with this technology, we're taking a video, which comprises of between 50 to 70,000 images. And then we can analyze the whole video, looking for diseases and making diagnosis for the patient.
Joey Wahler (Host): And so to clarify, someone gets fitted with this device by coming in to see you, then goes home, goes about their day, just kind of carries it around uninvasively for a few to several hours or so, as I recall, and then it transmits the images you need and that's pretty much it. Then you're able to go from there.
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: You got it.
Joey Wahler (Host): Well, moving on. There's also something called ESG, endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty, which is used for weight loss. And of course, so many people are often concerned about that. Tell us how that works.
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: Aside from what we have discussed, these are some of the newer procedures that we are in the process of offering at St. Francis Medical Center. As we know, obesity is a pandemic. More than 35% of our population is obese at present and this is the same number that we find worldwide.
Obesity is a cause of many problems, including heart disease, strokes, arthritis, hypertension diabetes and not to mention 13 different kinds of cancers are on the rise, which are associated with obesity. So to address this problem, we're focusing on prevention. So if we address the weight loss, then in the long run, we're going to be addressing all these medical problems. So what we have available, starting from a dietary and lifestyle modification, which is essential to any weight loss program, we now also have some endoscopic procedures available to us, which would include placing certain balloons inside the stomach, occupying the space, reduces the capacity of the stomach, so the patient ends up eating less and loses weight. Similar procedure, which is called endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty involves using a suturing device, which is attached to the tip of scope or endoscope. And, once we are in the stomach, we basically start creating a sleeve, which is pretty similar to what our surgical colleagues do, except that we're not cutting any part of the stomach out. And since we're not cutting any part of the stomach out or we're not cutting anything from outside either, so this gives the patient a faster recovery and a much lesser complication rate and the patient is able to achieve up to 45 to 50 pounds of weight loss.
Joey Wahler (Host): Wow. And then speaking of endoscopic, there's also the endoscopic resection or removal of tumors that you have available at St. Francis as well, right? Tell us about that.
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: Yeah, that's also some of the procedures that we are trained to do, and they are going to be becoming available in St. Francis in the near future. There are certain early stage tumors, which are superficial and are only limited to the superficial layers of the GI tract wall.
In the past, those tumors, when we would find those tumors, the patient would have to be undergoing surgery to have them removed. But now with the advent of the newer endoscopy procedures, we are able to resect these tumors endoscopically from inside, which is a form of intraluminal surgery. So the patient does not have to undergo any major surgical procedures.
Joey Wahler (Host): So anything else you want to add about any of what we discussed, just to kind of sum it all up and tie a bow on it before we go?
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: I would say that it's an exciting era in the field of gastroenterology. We are making a lot of progress in the field of minimally invasive procedures and the availability of certain new devices and accessories, enabling us to avoid major surgical procedures that were necessary in the past. And we're happy to offer these services to our patients in this area now.
Joey Wahler (Host): And I'm glad you mentioned that there in closing, doctor, the fact that so many of these things we're talking about are minimally invasive, because that certainly, as you well know, puts a lot of people's minds at ease. So I want to tell those of you listening that if you need GI treatment, as you just heard, St. Francis now offers the very latest procedures. Dr. Abdulhadi Quadri of St. Francis Medical Center, thanks so much again.
Dr Abdulhadi Quadri: Thank you very much for having me.
Joey Wahler (Host): And for more information about St. Francis or to make an appointment with one of their medical providers, please call (855) 599-SFMC, that's (855) 599-7362 or visit stfrancismedicalcenter.org. If you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social media. And thanks for listening to the St. Francis Medical Center podcast. I'm Joey Wahler.
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