The symptoms of ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease can be painful, frequent and embarrassing. Like the thousands of patients who come to our clinic each year, you want safe and effective relief of your stomach cramps, diarrhea and other forms of intestinal pain. You also want to prevent your disease from worsening. Our nationally recognized gastrointestinal doctors and colorectal surgeons specialize in IBD, and they understand how your discomfort affects your daily life.
Our doctors offer advanced treatment options that require specialized training, practice, and technology, such as, endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR), endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), laparoscopy and ileal pouch procedures - all very advanced treatment techniques that are not widely available.
With your very first call to us, our dedicated IBD Coordinator will take your history, obtain your referral information, make sure you meet with the right specialist, as soon as possible. Our team of surgeons, gastroenterologists, radiologists, nutritionists, and other specialists will work together to provide you with a personalized treatment plan that is best for your unique symptoms.
IBD Treatments
Our physicians will treat your condition using one more of the following techniques, performed by a team of experts who specialize in these procedures and therapies.
Instead of or addition to surgery, your treatment plan may include:
- Drug therapy (standard medications as well as clinical trials)
- Pouchitis management
- Nutrition management
- Stomal Therapy
- Laparoscopy
- Ileal pouch anal anastomosis (IPAA)
- Colectomy or small bowel resection (with or without colostomy or ileostomy)
- Therapeutic endoscopy (including endoscopic mucosal resection, endoscopic submucosal dissection and endoscopic dilation)
- Strictureplasty
Advanced IBD Treatment in Pennsylvania
Patients from throughout Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic States come to us for the latest drug therapies and the most advanced, minimally invasive surgical techniques available. We understand that while IBD can be severely uncomfortable, you may still consider surgery a last resort. Improvements and advancements in IBD care means that surgery does not need to disrupt your life. Consider our expertise:
Our surgeons perform up to 250 major operations (an average of five per week) on IBD patients each year 30-40 percent of these surgeries involve laparoscopy - a minimally invasive technique that uses one or more small incisions to access the abdomen, instead of one large cut. This means you can recovery more quickly, and with less pain, less scaring, and less risk of infection.
Our doctors will help you decide whether surgery is right for you.
Our Team Approach to Care
We provide a collaborative, team approach to treatment. This ensures that you are aware of all the options available to you, and that every doctor and specialist on your team is working together to provide you with the best care possible. In one visit, you will:
- Meet with a doctor who specializes in your condition, who will evaluate you and prepare a care program
- Undergo X-ray studies which may help diagnose your condition and/or pinpoint the location of your inflammation
- Discuss advanced treatments with a surgeon, so that you are aware of the options available to you
Our doctors also draw upon other experts immediately available within Penn State Health and Penn State College of Medicine. These experts have made a commitment to caring for our special group of patients:
- Hepatologists
- Ophthalmologists
- Rheumatologists
- Nutritionists
- Stomal therapists
- Dermatologists
- Fertility experts
- Pathologists and Radiologists