Professor Markus W. Büchler: European Pancreas Centre in Heidelberg – Excellence in surgery

The European Pancreas Centre in Heidelberg is among the leading centres in the world for the treatment of pancreatic disease. Under the stewardship of Professor Büchler, the European Pancreas Centre is able to offer the very highest level of treatment thanks to its highly qualified staff and state-of-the-art equipment.

Every year, we treat more than 2,500 patients and perform more than 600 surgical procedures on the pancreas.

The goal of the centre is to provide you with our know-how and the benefit of our long years of experience in interdisciplinary collaboration here in Heidelberg, all under one roof. A large team of specialist physicians assures you of comprehensive care and the best possible treatment outcomes. All departments are located within close proximity of each other so that team members are able to discuss and coordinate not only diagnosis, surgery and conservative treatment but also nutritional advice and counselling – in the best interests of the patient:

• Experienced radiologists use state-of-theart diagnostic procedures such as MRI and CT scans.

• Specialized physicians perform all standard endoscopic investigations and therapeutic interventions.

• In addition to standard operative procedures, our highly trained team of surgeons also routinely perform complex surgical interventions – adapted for specific illnesses, developed inhouse and tested in international clinical trials – as well as the most challenging of multivisceral resection procedures, i.e. the removal of tumours affecting multiple abdominal organs.

• Oncologists, who specialise in chemotherapy, and radio-oncologists, who attempt to destroy tumours through radiotherapy, treat all malignant diseases using state-of-the-art methods and give patients the chance to participate in national and international clinical trials which assess the latest approaches to cancer management.

• Gastroenterologists lend their expertise to diagnostic and therapeutic medical interventions, without surgery whenever possible.

• Dedicated nursing staff, physiotherapists, dieticians and psychologists offer support to patients in every conceivable situation.

The centre’s intensive involvement in research means that it is always at the forefront of medical knowledge. Our European Pancreas Centre is part of an international network of similar institutes, through which we stay informed about innovations and new developments in the field of pancreatic diseases throughout the world. Our patients are first to benefit from the latest therapeutic discoveries.

Together with the National Centre for Tumour Diseases (NCT) at Heidelberg University Hospital, the European Pancreas Centre runs a large number of clinical trials in which the latest drugs are used to treat pancreatic tumours.

In addition to those patients who come to the centre directly, we also provide care for patients referred to us from all over the world via internet and telephone consultation. The number of online enquiries, telephone consultations and second opinions that we process is rising continually: every month, we receive around 500 phone calls and emails. Around 20 per cent of enquiries come from outside Germany. In total, we process approximately 4,500 external contacts per year.

Specialist areas of treatment:

• Acute pancreatitis

• Chronic pancreatitis

• Pancreatic tumour (carcinoma, neuroendocrine tumours, cystic tumours)

The centre is committed to providing you with the best possible treatment and assuring all patients of as pleasant a stay as possible at Heidelberg University Hospital.