Upper Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Surgery

The Unit manages surgical diseases of the oesophagus, stomach, pancreas, liver and biliary tree. This involves the range of conditions from common problems such as gallstones to conditions that require multimodality treatment such as oesophageal carcinoma and metastatic liver cancer.

The Unit also deals with the more esoteric conditions such as achalasia, gastrointestinal stromal tumours, sclerosing cholangitis, etc.

To support these services the Unit performs both diagnostic and therapeutic upper GI endoscopies, eg. insertion of oesophageal stents and percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tubes. It is also responsible for providing the endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) service for malignancy and the management of biliary fistulae.

The modern management of complex upper GI problems with expert surgeons, dedicated surgical nursing staff, modern radiology and a first class Intensive Care Unit mean that what were once formidable procedures such as oesophageal and pancreatic resections can now be performed with low morbidity.

Laparoscopic Surgery

The introduction of major laparoscopic surgery ten years ago in Australia and shortly after at Box Hill Hospital resulted in dramatic changes to the way we manage many abdominal conditions. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the obvious one, but the same advantages that we have seen with cholecystectomy are now also seen with a variety of other laparoscopic procedures including antireflux surgery, splenectomy and adrenalectomy. Where appropriate the common conditions of appendicitis and groin hernia are also treated laparoscopically.

The laparoscopic equipment at Box Hill Hospital is excellent with state of the art video cameras and tools such as the ultrasonic shears. The latter allows vessels to be divided without a requirement for either clips or ties - invaluable in performing a laparoscopic fundoplication.

General Surgery

The Unit also provides a range of general surgical services and with the two other General Surgical Units it provides the emergency surgical service for the Hospital.

The Unit is staffed by four Surgeons, an advanced Surgical Registrar and an Intern. It also teaches final year and fourth year students from Monash University Medical School.

Appointments

Appointments for elective surgical problems can be made for our weekly Outpatient Clinic. This is held on a Thursday morning and most new patients will be seen at the next Clinic. More urgent surgical problems can be discussed directly with one of the surgeons or with our Registrar who is contacted through the Hospital switchboard.

Unit Members