Advanced POEM Procedure Launches at Orlando Health

Peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM), a specialized endoscopic procedure designed to treat motility disorders of the esophagus, is now offered at Orlando Health, one of only five hospital systems in Florida to provide the treatment.

Performed orally using high-definition upper endoscopes, POEM allows physicians to make mucosal incisions and subsequent submucosal tunneling to permanently relax tight esophageal muscles and open narrowed parts of the esophagus. No external cuts are required.

This advanced, minimally invasive therapeutic procedure addresses swallowing disorders such as achalasia, spastic esophageal conditions and esophagogastric junction outflow obstruction. “POEM gives us a very controlled method of cutting from inside the esophageal cavity for solving these complex disorders in a safe, effective manner,” says Ji Young Bang, MD, a board-certified gastroenterologist and director of clinical research at the Orlando Health Digestive Health Institute Center for Advanced Endoscopy, Research & Education.

An internationally recognized researcher in interventional endoscopy who lectures globally, Dr. Bang joined Orlando Health in March 2021 and performed the hospital system’s first POEM in May. Having completed 150 of these procedures since 2017, Dr. Bang brings extensive experience in POEM to Orlando Health, whose hospitals are recognized among the nation’s best through the IBM Watson Health 100 Top Hospitals study for 2021.

“While POEM was developed specifically for one digestive disorder, it forms a foundation for other complex procedures like submucosal tunneling endoscopic resection (STER), endoscopic submucosal dissection and gastric peroral endoscopic myotomy (G-POEM),” says Dr. Bang. “The procedures are slightly different, but they are all a part of our armamentarium of very advanced, complex endoscopy procedures that we can now provide to treat our patients.”