It’s been an exciting new year so far in GI!
Cooper’s gastroenterology (GI) team is now offering an innovative procedure called endoscopic submucosal dissection
(ESD). This procedure involves removing gastrointestinal lesions that have not yet entered the muscle layer. These lesions include tumors, masses, and polyps that otherwise would require major surgery.
With ESD, these lesions can be removed endoscopically as a noninvasive technique. The lesion is lifted with methylene blue and cut away using electrosurgical knives and cautery. The lesion is removed and sent for analysis, and the incision is sutured endoscopically with a specialized suturing device.
The advantage of this noninvasive technique is that it allows for preservation of as much of the colon and GI tract as possible. In many cases, this technique avoids the need for colectomy and an abdominal incision, which would require an extended hospital stay and weeks of recovery. In most cases, after ESD, the patient is admitted overnight and can go home the next day.
The ESD team at Cooper is led by Adib Chaaya, MD, and Daniel A. Baik, MD, and includes experienced nurses and technicians who have been trained extensively during an on-site inservice session. The four nurses on our team are William Sheffield, Emily Bryan, Dion Disipio, and Michael Hall, and the six technicians are Sheila Yeager (lead technician), James Irwin, Marquan Wallop, Sheila Martinez, Barbara Santiago, and Bridget Longfellow.
These procedures are performed in the OR and so far have lasted from four to eight hours. Our GI team takes pride in knowing that we can provide this important service to our patients safely and effectively and with minimal downtime. Previously, patients in New Jersey needed to go over the bridge to Pennsylvania or New York to have this procedure. This advancement represents the future of GI, and this is an exciting time for our team.
Congratulations to an amazing team!