Capital Health – Pediatric Gastroenterology Specialists offers evaluation and treatment for gastrointestinal disorders for children up to 21 years of age. Our goal is to diagnose any gastrointestinal disease that may be affecting your child’s digestive tract, control the symptoms, improve their quality of life, and when possible, eliminate the disease.
The conditions we treat include:
- Abdominal pain
- Celiac disease – Gluten intolerance
- Chronic diarrhea
- Constipation
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Crohn's disease
- Ulcerative colitis
- Encopresis – Soiling
- Eosinophilic esophagitis – A chronic immune system disease caused by the build-up of a certain type of white blood cell in the lining of the esophagus
- Failure to thrive – Gastrointestinal disorders that may interfere with the absorption of nutrients and slow the physical development of a baby or child
- Food allergies
- Functional abdominal pain - Recurrent stomach pain not caused by physical abnormalities
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) – A chronic condition in which bile from the stomach backs up into the esophagus
- Gastritis – General term for a group of conditions that cause inflammation of the stomach lining
- H. pylori infection – The presence of a bacteria in the stomach that can cause ulcers
- Irritable bowel syndrome - Chronic condition of the large intestine that causes abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, and diarrhea
- Liver and pancreatic diseases
- Milk protein allergy
- Obesity
- Peptic ulcer disease – Open sores in the lining of the stomach and the duodenum (the first section of the small intestine)
We offer the following procedures:
Capsule endoscopy – The patient swallows a pill-sized capsule that contains a tiny, wireless camera. The camera takes pictures as it passes through the small intestine and sends the images to a recording device worn around the patient’s waist.
Colonoscopy – While the patient is sedated, a flexible tube with a tiny video camera at the end is inserted into the rectum to look for changes or abnormalities in the large intestine (colon).
Flexible Sigmoidoscopy – Similar to a colonoscopy, but this procedure focuses on the inner lining of the rectum and the lower part of the large intestine (sigmoid colon).
Polypectomy – Polyps are small masses of tissue that are sometimes detected when endoscopic procedures are performed. Because polyps can develop into cancer, a polypectomy is performed as needed (most commonly during a colonoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy) to remove the polyps and collect them for testing.
Upper endoscopy – While the patient is sedated, a thin, flexible tube with a tiny video camera and light on the end is guided through the mouth and down the throat to look at the inner lining of the upper digestive tract (this includes the esophagus, stomach, and the first part of the small intestine (duodenum).