The first endosonography system was installed in Gha’em Hospital, an educational, research and treatment center covered by Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.

According to Webda, MUMS faculty member and Director of Endoscopy Department of Mashhad Gha’em Hospital said, “Thanks to the efforts of the university officials, an endosonography system was purchased at a cost of 300 million Tomans and installed at the Endoscopy Department of this hospital to be used for ultrasound diagnosis of abdominal problems and for pain management in patients with advanced cancers.”

Dr. Farzanehfar pointed out, “Diagnosis of bile duct stones (which cannot be diagnosed with other methods) and cancers of pancreas head and common bile duct, treating complications of pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), and pain management in advanced cancer patients with celiac plexus block are some of the applications of this system. It was bought for Department of Gastroenterology of the university with correspondence and follow up of the Chancellor, Vice President for Education, and Head of Department of Gastroenterology of the university, and Head of Department of Internal Medicine of Gha’em Hospital. There is an issue with automatic washing feature of the device, and it will be put into service as soon as the problem is fixed.”

“Before purchasing this system, patients were referred to Tehran or to private centers and had to pay enormous expenses, to the extent that some of them gave up treatment because they could not afford it. The cost price of diagnosis and treatment using our new endosonography system will be less than 500 thousand Tomans. The Endoscopy Department of Gha’em Hospital serves a very large number of patients since the implementation of Health System Reform Plan, but we still have to use the old devices unfortunately. Currently, our main problem is equipment shortage in the endoscopy departments of Gha’em and Emam Reza hospitals and we need endoscopy and colonoscopy systems as well as a number of accessories and consumables such as various types of stent, biopsy forceps and injection needle. The price of the new system is about one billion Tomans, but the University had to pay only 250-300 million Tomans due to foreign exchange savings,” he said.

Dr. Farzanehfar said, “People admitted to the Endoscopy Department of Gha’em Hospital are either emergency patients (mostly with upper or lower gastrointestinal bleeding) or outpatients (for diagnosis of diseases). Upper endoscopy is performed through the mouth to determine the cause of pain, and some procedures are performed through rectum to examine the colon in order to find out the causes of bleeding and colon obstruction (which usually happen due to gastrointestinal cancers). Gastric cancer prevalence is increasing in our country and endoscopy and colonoscopy departments should therefore be well-equipped for diagnosis. Each month in Gha’em Hospital, we do almost one thousand endoscopies and colonoscopies, and about 250 to 400 ERCPs (for biliary system and pancreas problems) in morning and evening shifts. Proper lifestyle and practices for prevention of digestive diseases should be taught since an early age so that people can avoid contracting pancreatic and upper stomach cancers with appropriate physical activity and a healthy diet.”