Gastroenterology
Gastroenterology (MeSH heading)[1] is the branch of medicine whereby the digestive system and its disorders are studied. Etymologically, the name is a combination of three Ancient Greek words gastros (stomach), enteron (intestine), and logos (reason).
Diseases affecting the gastrointestinal tract, which includes the organs from mouth to anus, along the alimentary canal, are the focus of this specialty. Physicians practicing in this field of medicine are called gastroenterologists. Important advances have been made in the last fifty years, contributing to rapid expansion of its scope.
Hepatology, or hepatobiliary medicine, encompasses the study of the liver, pancreas, and biliary tree and is traditionally considered a sub-specialty.
History
Drawings of Bozzini's "Lichtleiter"
Citing from Egyptian papyri, Nunn identified significant knowledge of gastrointestinal diseases among practising physicians during the periods of the pharaohs. Irynakhty, of the tenth dynasty, c. 2125 B.C., was a court physician specialising in gastroenterology and proctology.[2]
Among ancient Greeks, Hippocrates attributed digestion to concoction. Galen's concept of the stomach having four faculties was widely accepted up to modernity in the eighteenth century.
Eighteenth century:
- Italian Lazzaro Spallanzani (1729–99) was among early physicians to disregard Galen's theories, and in 1780 he gave experimental proof on the action of gastric juice on foodstuffs.
- In 1767, German Johann von Zimmermann wrote an important work on dysentery.
- In 1777, Maximilian Stoll of Vienna described cancer of the gallbladder.[3][4]
Nineteenth century:
- In 1805, Philip Bozzini made the first attempt to observe inside the living human body using a tube he named Lichtleiter (light guiding instrument) to examine the urinary tract, the rectum, and the pharynx. This is the earliest description of endoscopy.[5][6]
- Charles Emile Troisier described enlargement of lymph nodes in abdominal cancer.[7]
- In 1823, William Prout discovered that stomach juices contain hydrochloric acid.[8]
- In 1868, Adolf Kussmaul, a well-known German physician, developed the gastroscope. He perfected the technique on a sword swallower.
- In 1871, at the society of physicians in Vienna, Carl Stoerk demonstrated an esophagoscope made of two telescopic metal tubes, initially devised by Waldenburg in 1870.
- In 1876, Karl Wilhelm von Kupffer described the properties of some liver cells now called Kupffer cell.
- In 1883, Hugo Kronecker and Samuel James Meltzer studied oesophageal manometry in humans.
McClendon's pH-probe
Twentieth century:
- In 1915, Jesse McClendon tested acidity of human stomach in situ.[9]
- In 1921-22, Walter Alvarez did the first electrogastrography research.[10]
- Rudolph Schindler described many important diseases involving the human digestive system during World War I in his illustrated textbook and is portrayed by some as the "father of gastroscopy". He and Georg Wolf developed a semiflexible gastroscope in 1932.
- In 1932, Burrill Bernard Crohn described Crohn's disease.
- In 1957, Basil Hirschowitz introduced the first prototype of a fibreoptic gastroscope.
Twenty-first century:
Disease classification
1. International Classification of Disease(ICD 2007)/WHO classification:
- Chapter XI,Diseases of the digestive system,(K00-K93)[2]
2. MeSH subject Heading:
- Gastroenterology (G02.403.776.409.405)[3]
- Gastroenterological diseases(C06.405)[4]
3. National Library of Medicine Catalogue(NLM classification 2006):
Gastroenterological societies
- American College of Gastroenterology
- American Gastroenterological Association
- American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
- British Society of Gastroenterology
References
- ↑ nlm.nih.gov
- ↑ Nunn JF. Ancient Egyptian Medicine. 2002. ISBN 0-80613-504-2.
- ↑ Edgardo Rivera, MD James L. Abbruzzese, MD; Pancreatic, Hepatic, and Biliary Carcinomas, MEDICAL ONCOLOGY: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW[1]
- ↑ DeStoll M: Rationis Mendendi, in Nosocomio Practico vendobonensi. Part 1 LugduniBatavarum, Haak et Socios et A et J Honkoop 1788, OCLC: 23625746
- ↑ Gilger, Mark A. MD,Gastroenterologic endoscopy in children: past, present, and future. Gastroenterology and nutrition Current Opinion in Pediatrics. 13(5):429-434, October 2001.
- ↑ The Origin of Endoscopes, Olympus history
- ↑ Anton Sebastian,A Dictionary of the History of Medicine, ISBN 1850700214
- ↑ Prout, W. On the nature of the acid and saline matters usually existing in the stomachs of animals. – Philos. Transactions, 1824, 1, 45.
- ↑ McClendon J. F. New hydrogen electrodes and rapid methods of determining hydrogen ion concentrations. – Amer. J. Physoil., 1915, 38, 2, 180.
- ↑ Alvarez W. C. The electrogastrogram and what it shows. JAMA, 78(15):1116-18, 1922.
External links
Publications/Journals at the Open Directory Project
Digestive system · Digestive disease · Gastroenterology (primarily K20-K93, 530-579) |
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Upper GI tract |
Esophagus
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Esophagitis (Candidal) · rupture (Boerhaave syndrome, Mallory-Weiss syndrome) · UES (Zenker's diverticulum) · LES (Barrett's esophagus) · Esophageal motility disorder (Nutcracker esophagus, Achalasia, Diffuse esophageal spasm, GERD) · Esophageal stricture · Megaesophagus
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Stomach
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Gastritis (Atrophic, Ménétrier's disease, Gastroenteritis) · Peptic (gastric) ulcer (Cushing ulcer, Dieulafoy's lesion) · Dyspepsia · Pyloric stenosis · Achlorhydria · Gastroparesis · Gastroptosis · Portal hypertensive gastropathy · Gastric antral vascular ectasia · Gastric dumping syndrome · Gastric volvulus
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Intestinal/
enteropathy |
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Enteritis (Duodenitis, Jejunitis, Ileitis) — Peptic (duodenal) ulcer (Curling's ulcer) — Malabsorption: Coeliac · Tropical sprue · Blind loop syndrome · Whipple's · Short bowel syndrome · Steatorrhea · Milroy disease
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Appendicitis · Colitis (Pseudomembranous, Ulcerative, Ischemic, Microscopic, Collagenous, Lymphocytic)Functional colonic disease ( IBS, Intestinal pseudoobstruction/Ogilvie syndrome) — Megacolon/Toxic megacolon · Diverticulitis/Diverticulosis
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Large and/or small
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Proctitis (Radiation proctitis) · Proctalgia fugax · Rectal prolapse · Anal fissure/Anal fistula · Anal abscess
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Accessory |
Liver
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Hepatitis (Viral hepatitis, Autoimmune hepatitis, Alcoholic hepatitis) · Cirrhosis (PBC) · Fatty liver (NASH) · vascular (Hepatic veno-occlusive disease, Portal hypertension, Nutmeg liver) · Alcoholic liver disease · Liver failure ( Hepatic encephalopathy, Acute liver failure) · Liver abscess · Hepatorenal syndrome · Peliosis hepatis
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Bile duct/
other biliary tree
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Cholangitis (PSC, Ascending) · Cholestasis/Mirizzi's syndrome · Biliary fistula · Haemobilia · Gallstones/ Cholelithiasis
common bile duct (Choledocholithiasis, Biliary dyskinesia)
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Pancreatic
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Pancreatitis ( Acute, Chronic, Hereditary) · Pancreatic pseudocyst · Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency · Pancreatic fistula
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Hernia |
Diaphragmatic: Congenital diaphragmatic · Hiatus — Abdominal hernia: Inguinal (Indirect, Direct) · Umbilical · Incisional · Femoral — Obturator hernia · Spigelian hernia
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Peritoneal |
Peritonitis (Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis) · Hemoperitoneum · Pneumoperitoneum
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GI bleeding |
Upper (Hematemesis, Melena) · Lower (Hematochezia)
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See also congenital, neoplasia |
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