This division was accredited as a specialized gastroenterology training center on July 1, 1996, and performs the following diagnostic and therapeutic procedures with the highest regard for patient comfort and safety: abdominal and endoscopic ultrasonography, endoscopy of the entire gastrointestinal tract (enteroscopy, sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy), endoscopic polypectomy, endoscopic esophagectomy, endoscopic ligation of esophageal varices, endoscopic injection of gastric varices, endoscopic sphinterectomy, common bile duct lithotripsy, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreaticography (ERCP), percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG), and endoscopic gastric submucosal and pancreatic tissue aspiration biopsies.