Karolinska University Hospital has opened a new center for severe gastroenterology

There is now a new and unique center in Sweden at Karolinska University Hospital. The Digestive Center targets a severely ill patient group that is not often talked about.

Only less than one percent. Many Swedes today suffer from inflammatory bowel disease, IBD. Many patients are early in life, not rarely in their teens. For those most affected, the disease can mean that dreams of traveling, getting an education and starting a family remain dreams. The Digestive Center wants to give these patients new hope. Here many professions and specializations must work together. For the patient, this means better and more consistent care.

– The Digestive Center allows the patient to meet with a gastroenterologist, surgeon, nurse, psychiatrist, and nutritionist in one place and at one time, he says. Matthias SupHead of the Department of Surgery for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Intestinal Failure at Karolinska University Hospital.

The Digestive Center also provides care for patients with intestinal failure. It is a small group of patients with different disease backgrounds. Those with intestinal failure cannot absorb nutrients in the usual way. To survive, intravenous nutrition or fluids are needed. Intestinal failure is one of the tasks of Karolinska University Hospital within the national highly specialized care.

Establishing the Digestive Center took a long process. “We feel very proud to have come here,” he says. Francesca BrisoDirector of the Department of Gastroenterology at Karolinska University Hospital.

The thing that inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal failure, and other diseases related to the digestive system have in common is that they are not talked about much. Francesca Briso and Matthias Sopp think so.

-We want to change that. Francesca Briso says that the idea behind establishing the center is, among other things, to increase awareness and knowledge about gastrointestinal diseases and to enhance the focus on patients.

Facts about the Digestive Center

The Digestive Center is a collaboration between the Department of Gastroenterology and the Department of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Intestinal Failure Surgery under the themes of inflammation, aging and cancer, respectively.

The Digestive Center conducts work in three main areas: intestinal failure, inflammatory bowel disease, and neurogastrointestinal diseases.

Many companies are involved, both in outpatient and inpatient care.

In addition to sponsorship, the collaboration should also have a positive impact on research and education at Karolinska University Hospital in the field of gastroenterology and nutrition.

Read more from Digestive Center (karolinska.se)

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Karolinska University Hospital is one of the largest hospitals in Europe, and together with Karolinska Institute we are leading the medical development in Sweden. For us, healthcare, research and education are equally important parts of the work to expand and improve people's lives.