Faculty in the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at IU School of Medicine provides comprehensive, multi-disciplinary care for patients. With access to the full spectrum of pediatric specialties, including pediatric surgery, pediatric nutrition and pediatric interventional radiology support, the award-winning team of physicians and staff in the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition treat patients with a variety of gastrointestinal, liver and nutritional disorders. Multi-disciplinary clinics enhance these collaborations, and dedicated programs are available for patients with inflammatory bowel disease, liver disease, eosinophilic diseases, short bowel syndrome, cystic fibrosis, obesity and motility disorders. Additionally, the division has a large endoscopic practice with a highly professional and efficient system and many years of experience.
Looking for Patient Services?
Patients looking for a physician referral can search the IU Health provider directory by specialty or disease—or phone the IU Health on-call service at 317-916-3525 or 800-265-3220.
State-of-the-art facilities
In addition to their primary location at Riley Hospital for Children in downtown Indianapolis, the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition sees patients across the state of Indiana including locations at IU Health North Hospital in Carmel, IU Health Saxony Hospital in Fishers, South Bend Clinic, Fort Wayne Clinic, IU Health Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, and at Southern Indiana Pediatrics in Bloomington. When hospitalization is necessary, patients are admitted to Riley Hospital for Children (downtown Indianapolis) or to the pediatric unit at IU North Hospital, which has one of the highest customer satisfaction rankings in the Midwest.
Special clinics and programs
This clinic is a result of collaboration between pediatric gastroenterologists, ENT physicians and pediatric pulmonologists. The Airway and Digestion Clinic offers multidisciplinary approach to children with swallowing, airway or upper GI tract issues.
This multidisciplinary clinic is staffed by a pediatric hepatologist, a pediatric surgeon and a dietitian—and meets monthly.
This multidisciplinary clinic provides a full range of supportive care for celiac disease, which includes gastroenterologists, registered dietitians, social workers, and psychologists. The team will develop an individualized care plan for each child and will follow up to make sure the gluten-free diet is going well and to see if symptoms of celiac disease have disappeared.
The Cystic Fibrosis/Gastroenterology Clinic allows Pediatric Gastroenterology, and our occasional pediatric gastroenterology cystic fibrosis fellow, to interact with the cystic fibrosis team to manage hepatic, intestinal, pancreatic and nutritional complications of cystic fibrosis. The team consists of specialists in gastroenterology, pulmonology, nursing, nutrition, respiratory therapy, social work, pharmacy, and genetic counseling. The Cystic Fibrosis Center is the only pediatric center accredited by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in the state of Indiana and one of 115 care centers in the United States.
Riley physicians are pioneers in Eosinophilic Intestinal Disease and have extensive expertise in managing these diseases. The multidisciplinary eosinophilic esophagitis clinic meets monthly, and pediatric allergists and dietitians contribute to the program.
Faculty in the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at IU School of Medicine were pioneers in the performance of esophageal manometry back in 1980. Joseph Croffie, MD, began performing anorectal manometry in 1995. He has a national reputation in this area and in the performance of biofeedback training for patients with difficulties passing stool. The addition of stomach, small intestine and colonic motility studies became available in the Riley Motility Laboratory in early 2000. Marian Pfefferkorn, MD also performs anorectal manometry and biofeedback training. Shamaila Waseem, MD, Director of the GI Motility Program, is focused on gastroparesis and other gastrointestinal motility disorders.
Faculty physicians in the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology offer years of experience in performing endoscopies and related procedures in infants, toddlers, children and adolescents to medical students, residents and fellows. Services offered include upper GI endoscopy, lower GI endoscopy, G-tube placement, pH probe studies (including Bravo®), capsule endoscopy, percutaneous liver biopsy, rectal biopsies and manometry, and motility studies to examine the motility of the GI tract.
Pediatric gastroenterologists collaborate with pediatric surgeons, dietitians and clinical pharmacologists. A support group is being developed.
The Riley PAIR Program (Parenteral support And Intestinal Rehabilitation) focuses on care of children with complex intestinal issues and intestinal failure, most commonly related to surgical short bowel syndrome. This clinic occurs at least once weekly and is led by pediatric gastroenterology and pediatric surgery. Additional program support is provided through transplant surgery, clinical nutrition, and social work. The program focuses on improving children’s ability to grow and thrive with the goal to transition from parenteral support to enteral and oral feedings only. The program provides innovative parenteral treatment options including non-soy based lipids, as well as participating in research on emerging medical therapies. Intestinal and multivisceral transplantation is available for children who require this life-saving procedure.
Inaugurated in 1987, the Liver Transplant Program at IU Health has transplanted livers in more than 150 children with severe liver disease. Children are sometimes placed on the liver transplant list if they have an inherited metabolic condition such as Wilson’s disease, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency or a urea cycle defect.
The MACE clinic allows motility experts from Pediatric Gastroenterology to interact with pediatric surgery to optimize outcomes of these children and study their management. It is the only one of its kind in Indiana.
The Pediatric Liver Program provides expert diagnosis and management of children with a variety of liver diseases, including elevated liver enzymes, fatty liver, viral hepatitis, cholestatic liver disease, metabolic liver disease, hepatomegaly and neonatal jaundice. The doctors, nurses and other specialists with the Pediatric Liver Disease Program at Riley Hospital for Children are highly skilled in diagnosing and treating simple to complex liver conditions. The program most often treats conditions that interrupt the flow of bile such as biliary atresia and cirrhosis. Supportive care, such as nutrition and medicines, as well as advanced procedures to address bleeding issues are offered in this clinic, and the liver transplant program is the only one in Indiana. Clinic faculty also work with expert adult hepatobiliary endoscopists/gastroenterologists who perform highly specialized procedures such as angiography, cholangiography and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) to treat bile duct problems and liver conditions.
The Weight Management program offers a multidisciplinary treatment approach to childhood obesity. A team of GI doctors, pediatricians, child psychologists, and dietitians will develop a family-centered, comprehensive treatment plan including dietary counseling, physical activity, behavior modification, and evaluating for any complications of obesity.