Team works to advance treatment options and care for patients with esophageal diseases
The esophagus is a muscular tube that carries food and liquid from the mouth to the stomach. When it’s working properly, most people don’t give the esophagus much thought. But when something goes wrong or doesn’t feel quite right, a specialized approach to evaluation and treatment may be needed. Baylor Scott & White Health is dedicated to finding and sharing innovative knowledge about the esophageal diseases that affect millions of Americans.
The physicians at Baylor Scott & White Center for Esophageal Diseases provide care to patients at Baylor University Medical Center facing complex esophageal disorders. Patients receive specialized consultation and care from a multidisciplinary team dedicated to providing advanced diagnostic testing, endoscopic services, therapeutic procedures and minimally invasive surgeries.
“Our focus is in three areas: providing excellence in clinical care for our patients, conducting innovative research in collaboration with the Center for Esophageal Research at Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, and contributing to education across the field of esophageal diseases,” explains Stuart Spechler, MD, chief of the Division of Gastroenterology at Baylor Dallas.
The Center offers a variety of advanced treatment options for patients with esophageal diseases, including minimally invasive treatments for some disorders that used to require removal of the esophagus. Endoscopic tissue removal, radiofrequency ablation with heat energy, and cryotherapy to freeze diseased tissue are some of the procedures being used to help prevent or cure esophageal disease at an early stage and keep the esophagus largely intact.
Individualized Outpatient Care
In addition to Dr. Spechler and two other gastroenterologists, Dr. Vani Konda and Dr. Rhonda Souza, the Center for Esophageal Diseases offers the services of endoscopists, esophageal surgeons, otolaryngologists, radiologists and pathologists working collectively to bring individualized care and service excellence to North Texas. These multidisciplinary teams meet weekly to determine the best approach to the diagnosis and management of patients with complex esophageal problems. “When a patient has difficulty swallowing and the cause is unclear, or the patient’s current medication for chronic reflux isn’t giving them adequate symptom relief, we offer outpatient diagnostic services and care that are highly personalized,” Dr. Spechler says. “We work closely with the physicians at the Departments for Thoracic Surgery, General Surgery, and Voice Center/Otolaryngology at Baylor Scott & White medical centers to allow for prompt referrals when necessary for a continuum of care not widely available elsewhere.
“Modern advances in therapy are so important for patients who experience swallowing difficulty, reflux or other esophageal conditions. We are very pleased and proud that research conducted through Baylor Scott &White in our Center for Esophageal Research has resulted in many of the advances that have impacted the clinical management of patients with esophageal disorders,” he adds.
More than just a lump in your throat
While Dr. Spechler is widely renowned as an expert in diseases of the esophagus, Baylor Scott & White is a leader in the treatment of patients with a variety of gastrointestinal diseases at regionally and nationally recognized centers of excellence, referral centers, local endoscopy centers and physicians’ offices across Central and North Texas.
And the commitment to excellence shows. Baylor Dallas and Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Plano were recently ranked among the nation’s top 10% of hospitals for Gastroenterology/GI Surgery by U.S. News & World Report.
For more information on how to support research or other initiatives in gastroenterology, please contact Lynn Bohne at 214.820.4070 or Lynn.Bohne@BSWHealth.org.
