Surgical Endoscopy Centre
Endoscopy Suite: B5, Main Block, Queen Mary Hospital
Phone number: 2855 5369
Fax number: 2855 5454
Email: endounit@hku.hk

Director: Professor Kent-Man Chu,
Head Nurse: Anna Tang

Figure 1. Nursing and supporting staffs of the Surgical Endoscopy Centre

The Centre

The Surgical Endoscopy Centre is a state-of-the-art centre for the performance of endoscopic examination, intervention, and related procedures. Nursing staffs of the Centre are specialized in the field of endoscopy. In addition to the normal working hours, the Centre also provides 24 hours' emergency coverage for conditions like gastrointestinal bleeding.

There are three main endoscopy procedure rooms (one of which is equipped with X-ray facilities), one laser therapy room, one gastrointestinal physiology study room, one urea breath test room, as well as one ultrasonographic and interventional study room.

Figure 2. Endoscopy procedure room

Figure 3. Endoscopy procedure room with x-ray facilities

Figure 4. Laser therapy room

Figure 5. Urea breath test

Figure 6. Ultrasound machine

Figure 7. Endoscopic Ultrasound Machine

The Centre has a whole array of modern endoscopes of different types that cover virtually all body systems for which endoscopic examination or intervention is indicated (for example, gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary and pancreatic, respiratory, ear, nose and throat, and urological systems). Special endoscopes for children are also available.

Figure 8. Examples of endoscopes

The procedures

The Centre provides first class endoscopy service to the society of Hong Kong. All services are led by specialists of the field.

The workload of the Centre is heavy, with an average of 12,000 procedures performed annually. This figure represents two-thirds of all endoscopic procedures performed in Queen Mary Hospital. The following table summarises the various endoscopic procedures performed in the year of 2005.

Research and training

In addition to endoscopy services, the Centre is in the frontiers of endoscopy research with numerous scientific publications in major international peer-reviewed journals.

Examples of some of the recent studies are:

• Somatostatin prophylaxis for post-ERCP pancreatitis
• Endoscopic ultrasound for acute pancreatitis
• Early vs delayed ERCP for acute cholangitis
• Endoscopic metallic stenting for esophageal cancer
• EUS for the detection of ascites in gastric cancer
• Endoscopic metallic stenting for acute colonic obstruction by cancer
• Manometric and bowel function studies after low anterior resection

The Centre is a major training ground for both surgical trainees and nursing staffs. All surgical trainees undergo training in endoscopy under the supervision of specialists. Generations of surgical trainees have benefited from the training they received in the Centre.

Apart from training nursing staffs for the Centre, nursing staffs of the emergency surgical wards also undergo short-term training at the Centre so as to be able to assist in emergency endoscopy during the after hours.

The Centre also participates in postgraduate training courses for both international and local digestive societies. A special module for Master of Medical Sciences on " Principles and Practice of Endoscopy" is also available. Please refer to the following websites for further information:
http://www.hku.hk/facmed/postg/mmedsc/mmedsc.html and
http://www.hku.hk/facmed/postg/mmedsc/index.html.