Gastroenterology

The Department of Gastroenterology of Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine was founded in 1974 by Professor Xiang Baikang, a nationally renowned expert in digestive diseases. It began performing gastroscopy in 1976, was the first in Zhejiang Province to perform endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), trained the first group of ERCP physicians in the province, led the development of endoscopic diagnosis and treatment of biliary and pancreatic diseases, and laid a solid foundation for the development of the Department of Gastroenterology.

In recent years, the Department of Gastroenterology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University has recorded more than 170,000 outpatient visits annually, more than 7,000 discharges, and an endoscopic diagnosis and treatment volume of 70,000 visits/year, and performs ERCP, ESD, EUS, as well as various endoscopic treatments including POEM, G-POEM, STER, and EFR.

Technical Advantages

The Department of Gastroenterology focuses its research on the prevention and treatment of gastric precancerous lesions and the early screening, early diagnosis, and early treatment of gastric cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, biliary and pancreatic diseases, and functional gastrointestinal disorders. It is the Zhejiang Branch Center for Early Gastric Cancer Screening of the National Clinical Research Center (Digestive Diseases), was the first in the province to conduct large-scale population-based gastric cancer screening, and established an integrated screening, diagnosis, and treatment system for high-risk populations with early gastric cancer and gastric precancerous lesions, highlighting the distinctive characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine in the prevention and treatment of gastric precancerous lesions. As an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) diagnosis and treatment center, the department has established an IBD MDT management model and, by integrating gastroenterology research, effectively improved the diagnosis and treatment of IBD, better providing patients with standardized and comprehensive treatment plans and services. It has the most advanced diagnostic and treatment technologies, such as nanobody quantitative detection technology, capsule endoscopy, small-bowel endoscopy, virtual small-bowel imaging by CT and MRI, and fecal microbiota transplantation, and has established patient-centered individualized diagnostic and treatment plans for early IBD screening, diagnosis, optimization of medication selection regimens, disease monitoring, efficacy assessment, and follow-up. In the 1980s, the department was the first in the province to introduce ERCP technology and accumulated extensive experience in the diagnosis and treatment of biliary and pancreatic tumors, stones, and inflammatory diseases. It performs endoscopic ultrasonography, intraductal biliary ultrasound (IDUS), biliary confocal endomicroscopy, and treatments including biliary and pancreatic duct stone extraction, drainage, endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST), stent placement for benign and malignant biliary and pancreatic strictures, endoscopic resection of early tumors of the duodenal papilla, and mother-baby biliary endoscopy (Spyglass), providing minimally invasive treatment options for patients with biliary and pancreatic diseases. It has conducted gastrointestinal motility testing and research for more than 30 years and established a gastrointestinal motility laboratory relatively early. It performs modern procedures such as high-resolution manometry of the upper and lower gastrointestinal tracts and dynamic PH-impedance testing, as well as transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEA) for the treatment of gastroparesis, post-chemotherapy vomiting, functional dyspepsia, chronic constipation, and gastroesophageal reflux disease, achieving good therapeutic results and providing convenient, effective, and safe new treatment options for functional gastrointestinal disorders and gastrointestinal motility disorders.

Academic Status

Under the leadership of Professor Lü Bin, the discipline has grown into a clinical key specialty designated by the National Health and Family Planning Commission, a first-batch key discipline designated by the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the lead institution for national TCM-Western medicine collaboration on gastric cancer, a major and difficult disease, a high-level key TCM discipline designated by the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and an innovative discipline in translational gastroenterology in Zhejiang Province. It has established the Institute of Digestive Diseases of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University. Its Laboratory of Digestive Tract Disease Pathophysiology is among the first batch of key laboratories in Zhejiang Province, and its academic team has become a Zhejiang Province interdisciplinary innovation team for the TCM diagnosis and treatment of chronic gastric diseases. It is a doctoral program in Clinical Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine (Gastroenterology) and has master's programs in TCM, Western medicine, and integrated Chinese and Western medicine at Zhejiang Chinese Medical University. It has now become a leading domestic clinical, research, and teaching base with distinctive TCM characteristics and advantages.

Research Achievements

The Department of Gastroenterology actively conducts extensive high-level basic and clinical research. In recent years, it has published more than 300 academic papers in journals such as GIE, Endoscopy, Gastric cancer, and J of gastroenterology; received 3 second prizes and 4 third prizes for provincial- and ministerial-level scientific and technological progress; and obtained 2 national invention patents. It has undertaken 5 projects, including National 863 research projects, Ministry of Science and Technology support programs, and Ministry of Science and Technology international cooperation projects; more than 30 National Natural Science Foundation projects; and more than 30 provincial- and ministerial-level projects, including major provincial science and technology special projects and key projects of the Provincial Natural Science Foundation.