Gastroenterology

The Department of Gastroenterology has a comprehensive medical care, teaching, and research system and advanced technology for the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary-pancreatic diseases. The department currently has 33 physicians, including 12 with doctoral degrees, 19 with master’s degrees, and 3 returned overseas students. It has three wards and one endoscopy center; annual discharges are nearly 3,000, bed utilization exceeds 100%, the cure and improvement rate is 95%, and the diagnostic conformity rate is 95%. Its diagnostic and treatment technologies for gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary-pancreatic diseases have reached an advanced level within the province, and it has extensive clinical experience in treating common and frequently occurring diseases of the digestive system. The digestive endoscopy unit is equipped with advanced devices; the annual number of patients undergoing gastrointestinal endoscopic examinations and treatment reaches 20,000. More than 20 diagnostic and treatment technologies are performed, including sclerotherapy and ligation of esophageal varices, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), electrocoagulation and electrosurgical resection of gastrointestinal polyps, endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), and endoscopic forceps clipping for hemostasis. Several treatments rank at an advanced national level and a leading level within the province. The department has strong research capabilities, with extensive experience and advantages in stem cell transplantation for cirrhosis, basic and clinical research on Helicobacter pylori infection, research into the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease, and research related to bilirubin clearance.

The Department of Gastroenterology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University was established in 1930. After more than 90 years of development, it has a comprehensive medical care, teaching, and research system, with significant improvements in technical strength, medical standards, and service quality, and holds a leading position in the field of gastroenterology in Dalian and even throughout southern Liaoning. It currently has 3 wards (Gastroenterology I, Gastroenterology II, and Gastroenterology III), 3 endoscopy centers, and 1 gastrointestinal motility testing room, with 104 beds actually in operation. Each year, it has more than 4,000 discharges, over 110,000 outpatient visits, approximately 25,000 endoscopic examinations, and more than 10,000 endoscopic treatments; bed utilization exceeds 100%. It has a highly qualified team of experienced technical professionals, primarily holding doctoral and master’s degrees, including 1 doctoral supervisor, 14 master’s supervisors, 12 professors, 6 associate professors, 12 doctoral degree holders, and 7 members with overseas study experience. It has 1 Liaoning Provincial Teaching Master, 2 university-level Teaching Masters, 2 Dalian Medical University Good Teacher and Helpful Friend award recipients, and more than 10 physicians have successively received the title of Excellent Teacher at the university or hospital level.

The department is equipped with color Doppler ultrasound systems, leukocyte adsorption therapy machines, gastrointestinal motility monitoring systems, electronic endoscopes, endoscopic ultrasound systems, and capsule endoscopes, among other equipment. It can competently provide biologic therapy and leukocyte adsorption therapy for patients with refractory inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), perform liver biopsy to diagnose jaundice and liver injury of unknown cause, and provide effective examination and treatment for refractory gastrointestinal motility disorders. The endoscopy centers can competently perform the diagnosis and treatment of early digestive tract tumors (such as ESD and EMR), endoscopic treatment of pancreaticobiliary diseases (such as stone extraction by ERCP and stent placement), and endoscopic ultrasound diagnosis and treatment. POEM is performed for achalasia of the cardia, with good therapeutic results. The introduction of painless endoscopy not only ensures the smooth implementation of endoscopic diagnosis and treatment but also improves patient comfort and satisfaction. Complete equipment and advanced technology have ensured and promoted the steady improvement of the department’s clinical diagnostic and treatment capabilities and the quality of its medical services.

Five subspecialties have been established: autoimmune diseases; chronic liver disease and gastrointestinal motility; digestive endoscopy; clinical and basic research on digestive tract tumors; and functional gastrointestinal diseases. In accordance with the characteristics of the subspecialties, an IBD specialty clinic, a hepatology clinic, a gastrointestinal motility multidisciplinary collaborative clinic, and an HP specialty clinic have been opened successively. A multidisciplinary disease diagnosis and treatment model has been implemented. An IBD multidisciplinary joint diagnosis and treatment platform (IBD-MDT) and a gastrointestinal motility multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment platform have been established, as have the Dalian Regional IBD Diagnosis and Treatment Alliance, the Northeast IBD Leukocyte Adsorption Therapy Center, the IBD Health Education Base under the Liaoning Provincial Health Education Demonstration Base, and the Functional Gastrointestinal Disease Health Education Base. Friendly ties have been established with renowned universities and hospitals in China and abroad, including the Dalian Integrative Medicine Center of Xijing Digestive Diseases Hospital (a network unit of the National Clinical Medical Research Center for Digestive System Diseases) and the Sino-American Collaborative Neuro-Gastrointestinal Motility Center. The IBD subspecialty has held 5 consecutive China Dalian IBD Summit Forums, inviting renowned experts from China and abroad for academic exchanges and improving the level of IBD diagnosis and treatment in the Dalian region. The gastrointestinal motility subspecialty has held 3 consecutive East Three Provinces Gastrointestinal Motility MDT Summit Forums, improving the diagnosis, treatment, and research of gastrointestinal motility disorders. The digestive endoscopy subspecialty has held the Workshop on the Diagnosis of Early Digestive Tract Cancer and New Technologies and the Dalian Digestive Endoscopy Diagnosis and Treatment Technology Summit Forum, among other events, thereby improving the level of endoscopic diagnosis and treatment. The current level of IBD diagnosis and treatment is first-class in Northeast China and advanced nationally, while the gastrointestinal motility multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment team is a leader in Northeast China.

In research, over the past 3 years the department has successively obtained 3 National Natural Science Foundation projects and 5 research projects from the Liaoning Provincial Department of Science and Technology and Department of Education. It has successively won 2 third prizes of the Liaoning Provincial Government Science and Technology Progress Award and 1 second prize of the Dalian Municipal Government Science and Technology Progress Award. Related research findings have been presented repeatedly at academic conferences in China and abroad and published in several dozen articles in well-known academic journals in China and abroad, including more than 20 indexed by SCI; 5 specialized monographs have been published. In teaching, the department undertakes clinical teaching and training for undergraduate medical interns, master’s students, international students, and standardized-training resident physicians. Core teachers have participated in guiding medical students to achieve outstanding results, including special prizes and first prizes, in university, Liaoning Province, the Northeast Three Provinces, and national clinical skills competitions. Over the past 3 years, 6 Dalian Medical University education reform projects, more than 10 Liaoning Province teaching reform projects, and 4 teaching reform projects of the Medical Education Branch of the Chinese Medical Association have been approved, and 3 provincial teaching achievement awards have been received.