WE’RE READY TO HELP
Methodist Charlton is one of a few
facilities that offers double-balloon
enteroscopy. If you think you
might benefit from the advanced
gastrointestinal procedures at our facility,
U.S.
Air Force retiree Julian Barton spent
years working in flight simulation. He is
all too familiar with trying to navigate an
aircraft through challenging situations.
What he hadn’t anticipated was that a
camera navigating through his body would
discover the cause of the challenging
situations he was facing with his health.
The trouble started in August 2012.
Barton had unexplained gastrointestinal
bleeding and anemia, which required
several blood transfusions.
Even a colonoscopy didn’t reveal the
source of the bleeding, which at one
time ceased for several months and then
returned unexpectedly. More blood
transfusions and tests followed, including
another colonoscopy.
“The doctors were puzzled,” Barton says.
Up close and personal
Barton was referred to Methodist Charlton
Medical Center, where gastroenterologist
Janardhan Konda, MD, gave Barton an
M2A™ capsule to swallow. The “pill” is
the size of a large vitamin and contains a
miniature video camera. As the camera
travels through the digestive tract, it
captures color images at a rate of two
images per second for eight hours.
“The camera pill footage revealed a
bleeding area in Julian’s small intestine,
so we felt it was important to move
forward with double-balloon enteroscopy,”
Dr. Konda says.
Methodist Charlton is one of the few
facilities in the Dallas–Fort Worth area
that offers the advanced procedure.
Completely incisionless and done
on an outpatient basis, double-balloon
enteroscopy allows doctors to evaluate an
area that was previously beyond the reach
of traditional endoscopes — the small
intestine. Using a push-and-pull technique
that involves alternately inflating and
deflating two balloons, doctors are
able to view the entire 20 feet of the
small intestine in most cases. The
enteroscope — a long tube with a
light and camera on the tip — is
also a tool for performing biopsies,
cauterizing bleeding areas, removing
polyps, and marking the exact site for
later surgery.
Could it be cancer?
During his search, Dr. Konda discovered
a large bleeding tumor in Barton’s
small intestine. General surgeon
and Methodist Charlton Chief Medical
Officer Frank Vittimberga, MD,
performed surgery to remove the
benign tumor.
Barton is thankful for the diagnosis
and successful surgery.
“I’m feeling much better,” he says.
The surgery has allowed him to return
to playing golf, traveling on cruises,
and taking daily walks with his golden
retriever, Lucky.
Footage of
Julian Barton’s
small intestine
helped doctors
pinpoint and
solve a severe
problem
Lights, camera,
ACTIO
12
Methodist Charlton Medical Center
•
❁
Spring 2014
GASTROENTEROLOGY
