The Integrated Endoscopy Centre is a merge of the former Surgical and Medical Endoscopy Centres. It was officially opened in late 2008. It is a state-of-the-art centre for the performance of endoscopic examination, intervention, and related procedures.  Nursing staff of the Centre are specialized in the field of endoscopy. The Centre is responsible for the centralized cleansing and disinfection of all endoscopes of the Queen Mary Hospital. In addition to the normal working hours, the Centre also provides 24 hours’ emergency service for conditions like gastrointestinal bleeding.

There are 6 main endoscopy procedure rooms (two of which is equipped with X-ray facilities), three gastrointestinal physiology study rooms (providing urea breath test, capsule endoscopy, 24 hours pH monitoring, as well as esophageal and anorectal manometry). Anaesthetic facility is available on-site for procedures requiring general anaesthesia.

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.

The Centre is the only endoscopy centre in the Hospital Authority of Hong Kong that provides:

• Extended service till 9pm on weekday
• 24 hours’ service by having on-call endoscopy nurse
• One-stop day-patient service

First in Hong Kong, the Centre pioneers the use of a safety checklist before, during, and after all endoscopic 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. The following table summarises the various endoscopic procedures performed by the Department of Surgery in the year of 2018.

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

Example of some of our 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 trainees and nursing staff. All trainees undergo training in endoscopy under the supervision of specialists. Generations of trainees have benefited from the training they received in the Centre.

The Centre also participates in postgraduate training courses for both international and local digestive societies.