Pediatric Gastroenterology Department

Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology. The Department of Gastroenterology at Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center was established in 1987. After 31 years of development and innovation, it now integrates clinical care, teaching, and research and has become a well-known pediatric gastroenterology specialty in South China. In 2011, it was awarded the title of a National Key Clinical Specialty, and in 2013 it became the lead institution of the Gastroenterology Group of the Pediatric Branch of the Chinese Medical Association. The ward currently has 58 open beds and 60 medical and nursing staff. All specialist physicians hold master’s degrees or higher; among them are 3 postdoctoral fellows, 4 PhD holders, and 7 doctoral students currently enrolled. In addition to diagnosing and treating common pediatric digestive diseases such as diarrheal diseases, acute and chronic gastritis, and peptic ulcers, this specialty has a high level of expertise in diagnosing and treating critical and difficult pediatric gastrointestinal diseases such as severe pancreatitis, gastrointestinal bleeding, and inflammatory bowel disease. The distinctive features of this specialty’s medical services are concentrated in the following areas: research and diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases; endoscopic diagnostic and therapeutic techniques; enteral nutrition therapy for children; inflammatory bowel disease; hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases; monitoring of gastrointestinal motility in children; and specialized gastroenterology laboratory testing. These specialty services are aligned with international development trends and are at a leading level in China. Specifically, this is reflected in the following aspects: 1. Research on gastrointestinal diseases is at a leading level in China. Our department has achieved important results in research on the mechanisms of viral infections and inflammatory enteritis in children, elucidating the molecular mechanism by which human norovirus regulates expression of sodium/hydrogen exchanger 3 (NHE3) in intestinal epithelial cells, thereby promoting diarrhea; investigating the role and mechanism of PKD1 in eosinophil recruitment in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease; synthesizing a phenothiazine-based near-infrared fluorescent dye and applying it to IBD (NEC) examinations; analyzing the structure of coxsackievirus A6 (CVA6) virus-like particles (VLPs) and developing a virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine for enterovirus D68 (EVD68). 2. Diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases are at a leading level in China. 1) In the treatment of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease, we were the first in China to implement exclusive enteral nutrition and biologic therapy; 2) in the diagnosis of pediatric Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection, we were the first to use PCR to detect Hp in gastric juice and gastric mucosa. This method has high accuracy and provided a basis for developing new clinical Hp detection methods; in Hp treatment, we were also the first in China to propose sequential therapy. This therapy has good efficacy in Hp eradication and guided the formulation of the Chinese expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of Helicobacter pylori; 3) we are at a leading level in China in the diagnosis and treatment of food allergy-related gastrointestinal diseases, guided the formulation of an expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of digestive tract diseases caused by food allergy, and established a cohort study of children with cow’s milk protein allergy; 4) in pediatric pancreatitis, we improved the previous endoscopic nasojejunal tube placement procedure to manual nasojejunal tube placement for nutritional treatment of acute and chronic pancreatitis, and provided demonstrations and guidance at several provincial hospitals. 3. Pediatric gastrointestinal endoscopic diagnostic and therapeutic techniques are at a leading level in China. This specialty has established the largest and most comprehensive pediatric gastrointestinal endoscopy diagnostic and treatment platform in China, and its gastrointestinal endoscopic diagnostic and therapeutic techniques are at a leading level nationally. It is equipped with pediatric electronic gastroscopes, colonoscopes, double-balloon push enteroscopes, duodenoscopes, endoscopic ultrasonography systems, argon plasma coagulators, capsule endoscopes, and other equipment. It performs routine examinations using electronic gastroscopy, colonoscopy, enteroscopy, endoscopic ultrasonography, and capsule endoscopy, significantly improving the accuracy of gastrointestinal disease diagnosis. The use of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) in infants is at a leading level in China. The youngest patient was 1.8 months old and the lightest weighed 3.2 kg; we were the first to perform diagnostic and therapeutic double-balloon enteroscopy and capsule endoscopy, accumulating extensive clinical experience. Our endoscopic balloon dilation treatment for gastrointestinal strictures is particularly advanced, and the diseases treated include esophageal stricture, achalasia, pyloric stenosis, and duodenal stenosis. 4. The application and research of enteral nutrition are at a leading level in China. We were the first in China to carry out enteral nutrition therapy for pediatric gastrointestinal diseases. Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, endoscopic jejunal tube placement, manual jejunal tube placement, catheter placement, and catheter care have reached an internationally advanced level. Enteral nutrition for chronic diarrheal disease, pancreatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and allergic gastrointestinal diseases is at a leading level in China. We established the first “human milk bank” in the country and conduct gastrointestinal function assessments. We have extensive experience in the timing, methods, routes, feeding tolerance, selection of nutritional formulas, and management of complications related to enteral nutrition. We now have relatively mature standards and management procedures for enteral nutrition therapy, which can meet the clinical needs of children with different diseases. We have carried out perioperative clinical nutrition management for severe congenital heart disease, congenital gastrointestinal malformations, and other conditions; explored the effects of different nutritional routes, feeding amounts and rates of increase, and formulas with different energy densities on disease outcomes in children during the perioperative period; and achieved satisfactory results. Throughout our journey, we have upheld the mission of “shouldering responsibility for health, practicing benevolent hearts and skilled medicine, and benefiting women and children,” followed the hospital motto of “right-mindedness, expertise, utmost effort, and diligence,” and wholeheartedly provided children with safe, efficient, and high-quality medical services.