Dr. Prabhleen Chahal has been awarded the designation of Master Endoscopist, a top honor in her field. Chahal, MD, FASGE, FACG, is the chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Human Nutrition at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and the first Texan ever to receive this title from The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.
This honor has energized Chahal. “It motivates me to work harder, continue to conduct clinical studies and research, and find innovative ways to help our patients,” Chahal said. “It has just given me more fuel.”
Chahal is an endoscopy expert focusing on interventional endoscopic ultrasound and ERCP. What is endoscopy, exactly?
“We go down with a flexible camera tube through the mouth, food pipe, stomach,” Chahal said, “And it has a tiny ultrasound probe attached to the tip of it that allows us to do an ultrasound from within the body.”
Chahal has developed endoscopic interventions that help the sickest of the sick, like people with pancreatic tumors blocking their small intestines so food can’t move through.
“Patients who have lost a lot of weight," Chahal explained. "They are malnourished, and they are in no form or fashion strong enough to withstand that surgery.”
But the tumor is starving them to death, so something must be done. Chahal uses her advanced ERCP skills to run a stent from the stomach to the small intestine.
“So you have effectively created a bypass, and then food starts going through that two-centimeter-diameter stent,” Chahal said. “Some of these patients, they have immediate turnaround in their ability to tolerate food, their nausea and vomiting are gone, they start gaining weight.”
Chahal recounted the experience of one of her patients who had lost 40 pounds at the time of his procedure. “Next day, nausea gone, vomiting gone. Three months later, he has gained 40 pounds,” Chahal said.
This is a relief, not just for the patient. “The entire family suffers with that patient. So the impact is immeasurable,” Chahal said.
Chahal can also use endoscopy to drain an infected gallbladder from the inside. She can repair a leaky valve that’s causing reflux. She can even kill tumor cells with a tiny electrode emitting radio waves, all without surgery. For most patients, less invasive procedures are better.
“Some patients absolutely yes, surgery is the right choice, but for the majority, I think there are a lot of minimally invasive endoscopic options that really change the quality of life of the patient,” Chahal said.
Science & Medicine is a collaboration between TPR and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, about how scientific discovery in San Antonio advances the way medicine is practiced everywhere.
