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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – ATLANTA–A team of surgeons and gastroenterologists at Emory has been able to treat patients with tumors of the upper gastrointestinal tract without major surgery, using a minimally invasive approach combining endoscopy and laparoscopy.
In the journal Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, they describe the results for seven patients who, with standard procedures, would have needed removal of all or part of the esophagus, stomach, or intestine. The study will be published in the April 2012 issue.
“By working together, we were able to remove these tumors without any open incisions and without removing any major organs,” says lead author Field Willingham, MD, MPH, assistant professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and director of endoscopy at Emory University Hospital. “The alternatives, such as total gastrectomy or a Whipple surgery, are major operations with long recovery periods and lifelong quality-of-life implications.”
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