Hepatology is a medical specialty focusing on the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of diseases that affect the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and the bile ducts.
Liver function tests are a group of blood tests that are performed to diagnose and monitor liver disease or damage. These tests measure the levels of certain proteins and enzymes in your blood like bilirubin, aspartate aminotransferase, antimitochondrial antibody, alkaline phosphatase, etc.
It is a procedure that combines upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy and x-rays to diagnose and treat problems in the liver, gallbladder, bile ducts, and pancreas.
It is an X-ray test that is performed to visualize and assess the biliary ducts for detecting any obstruction in it.
A liver biopsy involves collecting a sample of tissue from the liver to look for signs of damage or disease. This procedure is performed by inserting a thin needle through your skin and into your liver.
A liver transplant is a surgical procedure to replace a diseased liver that can no longer function properly with a healthy liver that is obtained from a living or deceased donor. It is mostly performed in patients with end-stage liver disease. The conditions that lead to end-stage liver disease are cirrhosis, acute hepatic necrosis, biliary atresia, viral hepatitis, metabolic diseases, primary liver cancers, and autoimmune hepatitis.
A Pancreas transplant is a surgical procedure to implant a healthy pancreas from a donor into a person with failed or diseased pancreas. Most often, it is the key treatment option for people with type 1 diabetes. It is also performed for people with severe kidney damage, consistently poor blood sugar control, Type 2 diabetes, and frequent insulin reactions. If kidneys are damaged by diabetes, then the pancreas transplant can be done in conjunction with a kidney transplant.
Robotic surgery is a type of minimally invasive procedure that allows doctors to perform surgery using tiny surgical instruments attached to a robotic arm. This robot-assisted technology helps doctors to perform many types of complex liver procedures with higher precision, magnification, flexibility and control than that with traditional techniques. Patient benefits of this surgery are less blood loss, less scarring, and faster return to life.
ERCP is a procedure to examine, diagnose and treat problems of the liver, gallbladder, bile ducts, and pancreas. It involves the usage of x-rays and upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy - a long, flexible tube – to visualise and study the organs. An ERCP can be performed to find the cause of unexplained abdominal pain, jaundice, blockages or stones in the bile ducts, narrowing of the pancreatic ducts, fluid leakage from the bile or pancreatic ducts, tumors and infection in the bile ducts.
Splenectomy is a surgical procedure to remove the spleen, a fist-sized organ that sits under the left rib cage near the stomach, from the body. This procedure can be performed as a traditional open surgery or a laparoscopic or minimally invasive surgery based on your health status. You may need to have your spleen removed if you have an enlarged or ruptured spleen, if the spleen is damaged by an injury or affected by cancer or severe infection. Spleen removal is also necessary if you have a severe blood disorder that doesn’t respond to other treatments.
TPC is a procedure that is employed to visualize and examine the bile ducts. During this procedure, a small needle is inserted through the skin into the liver to reach the bile ducts, depositing a radio-opaque dye. Then, X-rays are taken and evaluated. It demonstrates the indirect effects of cancer, blockages and dilatations of the bile ducts, and the presence of stones in the duct. This procedure also helps with the drainage of infected bile, dilation of benign biliary strictures, placement of a stent across a malignant stricture, and extraction of biliary tract stones.
Cholecystectomy is a surgical procedure to remove the gallbladder, a small pear-shaped organ in the upper abdomen. Most often, the gallbladder is removed by inserting a tiny video camera and special surgical tools through small incisions in the abdomen. This procedure is performed to treat gallbladder inflammation, gallstones in the gallbladder, gallstones in the bile duct, pancreas inflammation due to gallstones and large gallbladder polyps.
Surgery gives the best chance for curing the people with solid tumours affecting the bile duct, gall bladder, liver and pancreas. During the surgery, the entire tumor will be completely removed by surgical oncologists. For more-advanced tumours, a large section of the nearby surrounding normal tissue will be removed as well. This is performed to minimize the risk of leaving abnormal tissue behind and to avoid tumour reoccurrence.
