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ENDOPROSTHETICSORTHOPAEDICS/ VISCERAL MEDICINE ASKLEPIOS NEWSLETTER Issue 2/2018 Photo: © Monkey Business/Fotolia.com Dear Readers, Asklepios as a clinic operator Not only is eating one of the vital functions by the Medical Travel Quality Alliance. The Asklepios is one of the largest operators of of the human body, but it also brings jury named the clinic “excellent for medical private clinics and healthcare facilities in pleasure. This often means gastro-intestinal tourists”, not only a tremendous success Germany. Founded more than 30 years ago, diseases impact quality of life all the more. in the competition with other providers the chain of clinics follows a responsible Whether digestive tract tumours, chronic from around the world, but also shows the and sustainable strategy geared towards a inflammatory illnesses or other health extent to which our clinics focus on foreign high level of safety and quality. The group issues of these internal organs: In the patients. currently has more than 160 healthcare Asklepios clinics, our experts offer effective facilities spread across Germany between and gentle treatments. As always, several the Island of Sylt on the North Sea and examples from our hospitals will show this. Wishing you the best of Health! Lindau by Lake Constance and employs more than 47,000 employees. In the 2017 One of these is the Asklepios Klinik Regards fiscal year, Asklepios treated around 2.3 Barmbek in Hamburg. I mention this million patients. location, because Barmbek has received Dr. Thomas Wolfram the accolade of the “World´s Best Hospital Chair Group Management Asklepios Klinik Medical quality management at the for Medical Tourists” for the second time GmbH & Co. KGaA highest level is an area in which Asklepios particularly excels. The clinic operators benefit from the group’s structure to promote knowledge transfer between the facilities and to provide particularly excellent treatment. The results are also published regularly. For instance, the Medical Findings Report is published annually at www.qualitätskliniken.de of which Asklepios is a charter member. Moreover, 25 criteria on patient safety are published regularly on the internet. Photo: © Udo Kroener/Fotolia.com Page 1 of 65 ASKLEPIOS NEWSLETTER Issue 2/2018 VISCERAL MEDICINE Keyhole surgery at the highest level The GastroClinic of Asklepios Klinik Altona in Hamburg looks back on a long tradition of cross-functional links between visceral surgery and gastroenterology. Here, surgeons and registrars decide together which therapy is likely to provide the best possible result with the lowest stress on the body. Sub- sequently, the GastroClinic offers the patient minimally invasive therapy, whether surgical or endoscopic, explains Professor Gero Puhl, Chief Physician of the department for General, Visceral and Vascular Surgery. For this, the expert has access to a special intervention and operation area, which is specially equipped for minimally invasive therapy processes. The core element is the fully-integrated high-tech endoscopy operating theatre EndoAlpha with networked high-performance optical equipment and HD mini cameras at the tip of an extremely thin endoscope. Only very few clinics in With the da Vinci Xi surgical robot, the Minimally invasive operations in the Germany have equipment like this. It allows Asklepios Klinik Altona is the only clinic Asklepios Klinik Altona a particularly high quality and safety level. in northern Germany to have the world’s most modern system for robot-assisted ▪ Abdominal tumours While the clinic’s gastroenterologists carry interventions. It provides the surgeons a ▪ Benign and malignant diseases of out their endoscopic procedures through particularly good overview of the operating the digestive tract and stomach natural body openings, for example com- area and unique freedom of movement ▪ Benign and malignant diseases of pletely removing early forms of tumours for their instruments. Puhl uses the robot the colon and rectum in digestive tract, stomach or intestines, for example for complex anatomical ▪ Benign and malignant diseases of Puhl and his team or surgeons guide their conditions and for special interventions the pancreas instruments through several small incisions which would otherwise require an open ▪ Chronic inflammatory bowel in the abdominal wall. “We can do around operation, therefore stressing the patient diseases 75 percent of all operations in this gentle more. ▪ Liver tumours and cysts, portal vein manner”, Puhl reports. As well as standard hypertension operations for the therapy of hernias, The advantages of minimally invasive ▪ Groin and abdominal hernias gallstones or colonopathies, major cancer surgery are enormous, according to Puhl: ▪ Gall bladder and bile ducts operations on digestive tract, stomach, liver, “The minimisation of access trauma means ▪ Thyroid gland, parathyroid and pancreas and rectum are part of the range faster recovery for the patient after the adrenal glands of minimally invasive procedures carried operation, lower requirement for pain relief, out by his team. The clinic has special a lower complication rate, faster food intake, expertise in minimally invasive operations faster regeneration of intestinal function Contact: for digestive tract and rectal cancer. and a shorter stay in hospital.” Professor Gero Puhl Patients come from far away for these Chief Physician of the Department for interventions to be operated on by the General, Visceral and Vascular Surgery specialists at the Asklepios Klinik Altona. (GastroClinic) Resections of the liver and pancreas are Asklepios Klinik Altona also often performed in a minimally invasive Paul-Ehrlich-Straße 1 ▪ 22763 Hamburg manner here, and colon operations even Tel.: +49 (0) 40 18 18 81-16 01 ▪ Fax: -49 07 virtually in 100 percent of cases. www.asklepios.com/hamburg/altona/ experts/general surgery Page 2 of 5 ASKLEPIOS NEWSLETTER Issue 2/2018 VISCERAL MEDICINE Chronic inflammatory “We are a member of the Germany-wide country, with whom she works together on a centre of excellence ‘Inflammation at scientific level. bowel diseases (CED) interfaces’, which is sponsored by the under control Federal Ministry for Research”, explains A decisive factor in the selection of the Kühbacher regarding the special importance appropriate therapy is thorough diagnostics, of his outpatient clinic. “This allows us to which should be done as early as possible The chronic inflammatory bowel conditions offer everything which is available globally in the course of the illness. “Here in the (CED) Morbus Crohn and Colitis Ulcerosa in terms of therapies or therapy studies.” Westklinikum we have all possibilities are so complex and different from patient This is particularly important for patients for diagnostics, from capsule endoscopy to patient, that therapy for those conditions where the usual approved treatments are through to lung function tests, endoscopy provides a major challenge for the doctors not suitable. In the Westklinikum, they and magnetic resonance tomography, even treating them. Even though the technical can benefit from therapies which are still ecotrophology.”, explains Kühbacher. For and molecular genetic possibilities available in the approval process or in clinical trials. the comprehensive diagnostics of a chronic today have brought many new insights “Generally that is not possible elsewhere”, inflammatory bowel disease, Kühbacher’s and treatment approaches, these illnesses according to Kühbacher: “We treat many team of specialists generally need a week. It remain incurable. But nevertheless, the patients from overseas, especially from may take longer however until the therapies modern therapies can enormously improve Russia and the USA, who come here take effect: “We can offer the approach the quality of life of the affected patient. regularly for particular therapies.” via the university outpatient hospital, The more sophisticated and targeted the but also as an outpatient.” Only patients treatment processes become, the greater Not all medicines need to be administered with a chronically active disease require the importance of science and experience locally in the outpatient department, permanent therapy. This affects roughly of the treating doctors becomes in the emphasises Kühbacher: “We can also 50 percent of the patients, the other half selection of the correct medications and the prescribe many active ingredients as do not need to be treated the whole time, monitoring of the therapy. subcutaneous injections, and in the future explains Kühbacher. For this reason, early even as tablets with the same effectiveness comprehensive diagnostics is so important. Professor Tanja Kühbacher is one of the as the biologicals, and then check the most renowned national and international therapy progress every 3 to 4 months.” A further speciality of the Westklinikum is specialists for chronic inflammatory During these checkup appointments on the large department for Psychosomatic intestinal diseases. In order to use site, the therapies are then adjusted based Medicine, according to Kühbacher: “With this expertise in the optimum manner, on the current infection stage, and the chronic illnesses, the whole person is the university outpatient department necessary investigations scheduled for important, and not just individual organs.” for specialised gastroenterology of the the ongoing treatment. If participation in In addition, these illnesses can also affect Schleswig-Holstein University Hospital is a therapeutic study would be

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