UMC's Endoscopy Center Scores Another El Paso First

UMC's Endoscopy Center Scores Another El Paso First

EL PASO, Texas – In yet another milestone for University Medical Center of El Paso, an extraordinarily advanced, successful procedure has been accomplished on a patient suffering complications from stomach cancer. The procedure has only been accomplished twice in Texas: Houston and earlier this week at El Paso’s UMC.

The patient was unable to eat and digest food due to a blockage of his digestive tract from cancer. The procedure, called an “endoscopic jejunostomy,” creates a new opening in the stomach, attaches the small intestine to the opening and then places a stent in the new pathway for food to once again pass through the patient’s system. The patient can now eat again.

The procedure was successfully accomplished by Dr. Antonio Mendoza-Ladd, UMC’s Director of Endoscopy. Dr. Mendoza-Ladd is also Assistant Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso. “Dr. Mendoza-Ladd is among the best in our state when it comes to complex endoscopy, and he is another example of how our strong partnership with Texas Tech, along with UMC’s state-of-the-art facilities, results in the best of care for El Paso.” said Jacob Cintron, President & CEO.

“It is an amazing feeling and so fulfilling to be able to provide patients with immediate relief such as this,” said Dr. Mendoza-Ladd. “UMC has the best endoscopic equipment and staff able to perform these procedures, from the very basic to the most complex. I am proud to be part that team.”

On a related note, in 2017, UMC became the first and only hospital in El Paso to offer complex detection and treatment for a precancerous condition known as Barrett’s Esophagus, a procedure also at UMC’s Center for Diagnostic and Advanced Endoscopy.