Junior doctors who undertook a study to look at ways to control life-threatening gastrointestinal bleeding will showcase their work at an international conference later this month (19-22 May 2012).

Lucy Pickard and Michelle Cook, both Foundation Level 2 doctors, will be representing UHB at the largest international meeting of gastroenterologist GI specialists at the Digestive Diseases Week (DDW) in San Diego, California.

They will be able to share the findings of a study undertaken at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham which looked at ways of managing the control of excessive internal bleeding.

The study was carried out by Lucy and Michelle, both working in Gastroenterology, along with Oluwasola O Ajayi, an SpR in Radiology, and was jointly supervised by consultant radiologist Dr Jonathan Hopkins and Dr Jason Goh, Gastroenterology – Consultant.

Dr Goh explained: “At the Trust, we provide a consultant-delivered 24/7 GI bleed endoscopy service and interventional radiology service. Patients who continue to bleed despite endoscopic treatment have the options of surgical repair but not all patients are fit to undergo such lifesaving surgery.

“Mesenteric angiography, when blood vessels are X-rayed to check for abnormalities, and embolization, specifically occluding or blocking a blood vessel to stop it from bleeding, can be carried out by our specialist interventional radiologists. It is done under local anaesthetics and is potentially lifesaving.

“The study examined the role of using mesenteric angiography and embolisation, in the management of uncontrollable gastrointestinal bleeding in patients at UHB.

“The highly specialised nature of the procedure and the requirement for out-of-hour service provision usually means this may only be feasibly carried out in large hospitals with a tertiary referral base.”

The team are now keen to share the positive results of the study with other specialists facing similar challenges.

Dr Goh said: “I am very proud of our two highly dedicated Foundation level 2 doctors, Lucy Pickard and Michelle Cook, for undertaking the study examining the efficacy and outcome of this procedure.

“The meeting is usually attended by 18,000 delegates from around the world and I think this is a wonderful opportunity for both Lucy and Michelle to showcase the work at QEHB to the world and to gain exposure to a major international scientific meeting at this early stage of their career.”