Double Exposure

Baylor goes where no one has gone before.

We have scaled the summit of Mt. Everest and mapped the Marianas Trench. Yet one piece of real estate has stubbornly remained uncharted territory: the 21 feet of the human small intestine.

Until now, that is. With a new minimally invasive procedure called double-balloon endoscopy (DBE), it's now possible to get up close and personal with nearly the entire length of your small bowel. Gastroenterologists can now more easily treat a variety of intestinal conditions. Currently, Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas is the only hospital in North Texas offering this advanced technology.

"Capsule endoscopy (the camera in a pill) allows the gastroenterologist to view the small bowel and make a diagnosis, but then to treat it we would have to do surgery," says Daniel DeMarco, M.D., medical director of endoscopy and a gastroenterologist on the medical staff at Baylor Dallas. "With DBE, we can examine the bowel and perform procedures at the same time."

In addition to visualizing the small intestine, DBE allows doctors to cauterize bleeding areas, remove polyps and small growths, remove obstructions and sample tissue for biopsy.

The outpatient procedure typically takes 90 minutes to two hours, with the patient under deep sedation. The system consists of a long, flexible endoscope, an over-tube that slides over the scope, and two balloons inflated with a pump.

By maneuvering the scope and over-tube through the intestine, and inflating and deflating the two attached balloons in a synchronized manner, the physician gathers up the section of the intestine already examined and pulls it back onto the over-tube (like you might scrunch up a sock before you put it on). After each 12-inch section of intestine is examined, it's pulled back onto the tube, bringing the next section into view. In this manner, the intestine's full length can be visualized.

Dr. DeMarco says that the main benefit of DBE is that it avoids the need for invasive abdominal surgery. "It's better for the patient because there is no incision and a shorter recovery time."

DBE is performed at Baylor Dallas in a specially outfitted treatment room in the new Gastrointestinal Lab, an 18,000-square-foot area designed for patient comfort and convenience.

By Deborah Paddison

For a referral to a gastroenterologist on the medical staff at Baylor Dallas, call 1-800-4BAYLOR or use our on-line physician directory.