Digestive Health

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Digestive Health

We offer a full range of evaluation and testing services in a single location, including a state-of-the-art endoscopy center on site. The Digestive Health Center offers the most advanced minimally invasive surgical techniques, which allow for much faster healing and fewer potential complications than with traditional open surgery. Our experts work closely with a variety of other subspecialties, including nutrition and pain management, to provide a comprehensive care plan for your condition and optimize the patient experience. Patients who meet certain criteria can meet with both the medical and surgical teams in a single visit.

Conditions Treated

Upper GI disease, including Barrett’s esophagus
Pancreatic and biliary disease, including cancer
Acute and chronic pancreatitis
Colorectal disease, including cancer
Obesity
Gallstones
Thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal disease
Hiatal and paraesophageal hernias
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and acid reflux
Inflammatory bowel disease
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Small bowel disorders
Celiac disease (also known as celiac sprue or gluten-sensitive enteropathy)

Procedures & Services

Evaluation for liver transplantation
Double-balloon enteroscopy
Radiofrequency (RF) ablation
Endoscopic submucosal resection
Diagnostic and therapeutic ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography)
Bariatric surgery for obesity, using minimally invasive and robotic techniques
Robotic colon and rectal surgery
Advanced GI laparoscopy
Anti-reflux procedures

About UAB Medicine Digestive Health

Created in 2013, the UAB Digestive Health Center helps patients better manage digestive conditions and improve their lifestyles. The center combines our expertise in gastrointestinal (GI) care, GI surgery, colorectal surgery, and transplant surgery with hepatology, which focuses on treating conditions of the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and the vessels (known as the biliary tree) that connect those organs. It is staffed by a multispecialty team of physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals who are highly skilled in managing patients with GI disease.

Care Providers

Ali Ahmed, MD Gastroenterology, Interventional Gastroenterology

Patricia Ajayi-Fox, MD Gastroenterology

Chad Burski, MD Gastroenterology

James Callaway, MD Gastroenterology

Jamie Cannon, MD Colon and Rectal Surgery, General Surgery

Daniel Chu, MD Colon and Rectal Surgery, General Surgery

Britney Corey, MD General Surgery

Charles Dasher, Sr., MD Gastroenterology

Charles Elson, MD Gastroenterology

David Fettig, MD Gastroenterology, Hepatology

Jayleen Grams, MD, PhD Bariatric Surgery, General Surgery

Meagan Gray, MD Hepatology, Transplant Hepatology

Drew Gunnells, Jr., MD Colon and Rectal Surgery, General Surgery

Karin Hardiman, MD Colon and Rectal Surgery, General Surgery

Mohamed Ismail, MD Gastroenterology

Greg Kennedy, MD Colon and Rectal Surgery, General Surgery

Kondal Kyanam Kabir Baig, MD Gastroenterology

Brendan McGuire, MD Gastroenterology, Hepatology

Douglas Morgan, MD, MPH Gastroenterology

Melanie Morris, MD Colon and Rectal Surgery, General Surgery

Abhisek Parmar, MD General Surgery

Shajan Peter, MD Gastroenterology

John Porterfield, Jr., MD Endocrine Surgery, General Surgery

Kirk Russ, MD Gastroenterology

Fayez Sarkis, MD Gastroenterology

Mohamed Shoreibah, MD Hepatology

Phillip Smith, MD Gastroenterology

Richard Stahl, MD Bariatric Surgery, General Surgery

Christopher Truss, MD Gastroenterology

Frederick Weber, Jr., MD Gastroenterology

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Esophageal Function Testing

UAB Medicine offers a full range of testing on the function of the esophagus, the tube that connects the throat to the stomach. These tests usually are ordered to evaluate conditions such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), esophageal motility disorders/difficulty swallowing, achalasia, and hiatal hernias.

Some of the esophageal function tests offered at UAB Medicine are described below:

High-resolution esophageal manometry: A thin, pressure-sensitive tube is passed into the esophagus to determine if it is contracting and relaxing properly. This test is mainly used to diagnose swallowing disorders such as achalasia and esophageal spasms, and it is often done prior to anti-reflux surgery.

pH monitoring: A thin tube is inserted into the esophagus, and it remains in place for 24 hours to monitor how and when stomach acid enters the esophagus and what the acid level is. Patients keep a food diary during the 24-hour test, which allows the physician to determine if symptoms are connected to acid reflux. This test also may help determine whether breathing symptoms are caused by reflux.

Bravo monitoring: A wireless monitoring device is temporarily implanted into the esophagus to measure any and all acid reflux that occurs during the 48- to 96-hour testing period. The Bravo device is placed during an upper endoscopy, or EGD, while the patient is sedated. The device collects information that is wirelessly transmitted and stored on a recording device worn by the patient during the testing period.

Impedance testing: A thin tube is inserted into the esophagus to measure gas or liquids that may cause reflux or are entering the esophagus. It helps assess regurgitation or reflux of non-acidic substances. This test is often performed along with pH monitoring.

Functional luminal impedance planimetry (FLIP): The FLIP test is used during an endoscopy to measure the distensibility (swelling/stiffness) of the esophagus. The information collected is combined with the results of a high-resolution esophageal manometry test and is used to screen for unknown motility (movement) disorders of the esophagus in patients who have trouble swallowing.

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