Gastroenterologist Dr. Krishna Tripuraneni Specializes In The Latest Procedures By Al Pantone
Gastroenterology specialist Dr. Krishna Tripuraneni offers a wide variety of diagnostic and therapeutic services at his Wellington office, Palm Beach Gastroenterology Consultants. The center offers a number of cutting-edge treatments for problems of the liver and digestive system, such as capsule endoscopy. Endoscopes are used to inspect the beginning and end of a patient’s digestive tract, but these flexible scopes cannot examine the middle part, the small intestine. In capsule endoscopy, the patient swallows a pill-shaped camera that records the digestive system at a rate of two images per second. “This can see what the endoscope can’t,” Tripuraneni explained, noting that the device can be used to locate bleeding, polyps and even cancer. The office also specializes in monitoring esophagus pH. An electrode is placed in the throat and records its acidity throughout the day. The data is sent to a box the patient wears, which also has buttons to be pressed when patients eat, drink or feel pain. This helps Tripuraneni see how stomach acid affects a patient and allows him to provide an appropriate treatment. Both the pill camera and the pH monitor send data wirelessly to a small device worn on a belt. The data is then downloaded and viewed on a computer. Infrared coagulation is offered at the office as a treatment for hemorrhoids. A small, infrared light is placed next to the tissue and is activated for a few seconds. This coagulates the blood in the hemorrhoid and causes it to recede. The process is almost pain-free and very fast. Liver biopsy is another service offered by Palm Beach Gastroenterology Consultants. If the team determines that the liver is not functioning properly, they use a syringe to remove a small piece of the organ and examine it. This procedure is done at Palm Beach Surgery Center, where the team does all its endoscopic and surgical procedures.
Dr. Krishna Tripuraneni
One of the standard procedures performed at the surgery center is the colonoscopy. A flexible scope with a camera is used to inspect a patient’s colon to check for common problems. The colonoscope also has a device to remove growths and painlessly take tissue samples for further analysis. Tripuraneni started Palm Beach Gastroenterology Consultants in 1997 on the Palms West Hospital campus. In 2003, he moved to his own building on State Road 7. Tripuraneni became interested in medicine at an early age. His father was an otolaryngologist, a head and neck doctor. The elder Tripuraneni would let his son accompany him while he was doing rounds. “He even let me watch as he performed surgery, from a distance, of course,” he recalled, noting that his father was “one of the first surgeons to perform microsurgery on the middle ear bones.” Tripuraneni grew up in Hyderabad, India. He went to medical school at Osmania University in India and completed his residency in internal medicine at Hahnemann University in Pennsylvania. He is board-certified in internal medicine as well as gastroenterology and liver diseases. A Wellington resident, Tripuraneni and his wife have two college-aged children: a son who just finished his undergraduate degree in finance and a daughter who is in her final year studying medicine. His practice is affiliated with both Palms West Hospital and Wellington Regional Medical Center. Palm Beach Gastroenterology Consultants has offices at 1157 S. State Road 7 in Wellington and 1200 S. Main St., Suite 102, in Belle Glade. For more information, call (561) 795-3330 or visit www.gitrip.com. |wellington the magazine| August 2011
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