About the Digestive Health Institute

About the Digestive Health Institute

The Digestive Health Institute at Children's Hospital Colorado is the primary site in the Rocky Mountain Region for board-certified experts in esophageal, intestinal, liver, pancreatic and nutritional disorders of children. Our physicians are nationally recognized experts in all aspects of gastrointestinal (GI), liver, pancreatic and nutritional disorders and skilled in the most up-to-date and innovative diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for kids. 

Why choose Children's Colorado for the treatment of digestive disorders?

The Digestive Health Institute at Children's Colorado has a long tradition of providing outstanding clinical care to children and adolescents in the region and nationally, developing innovative diagnostic and therapeutic modalities and utilizing cutting-edge technology and treatments.

Digestive Health Institute physicians provide consultation to community physicians for many common GI problems of childhood, such as recurrent abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea or vomiting and constipation. They work closely and communicate with primary care providers to provide a timely evaluation and diagnosis and initiate the appropriate treatment plan. We are dedicated to providing family-based care and are also actively involved in a variety of state-of-the-art clinical and translational research in order to improve the health and care of children with GI and hepatic diseases.

Specific conditions treated

The specialists at Children's Colorado are particularly noted for their expertise in:

• Esophageal diseases
• Eosinophilic esophagitis
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Celiac disease
• Intestinal motility disorders
• Liver diseases of children
• Liver transplantation
• Adolescent obesity
• Pancreatic disorders
• Aerodigestive disorders
• Therapeutic endoscopy
• Intestinal rehabilitation

Services offered

The Digestive Health Institute at Children's Colorado runs the only pediatric endoscopy unit dedicated solely to children in the region, in collaboration with pediatric anesthesiologists and pediatric nurses. The full range of endoscopic and other non-invasive procedures are offered. Advanced practice nurses in the area of liver disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and nutrition assist physicians and are resources for complex patients. Below are the services that we provide:

Clinical services:

• Primary consultative services, follow-up, and long-term management of GI, liver and nutritional disorders 
• Second opinions and evaluations
• Liver transplantation evaluation and management
• Adolescent obesity services
• Advanced Therapeutic Endoscopy Clinic
• Aerodigestive Program
• Colorado Center for Celiac Disease
• Gastrointestinal Eosinophilic Disease Program
• Gastrointestinal Motility Program
• Home enteral and parenteral nutrition services
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease Program
• Intestinal Rehabilitation Program
• Nutritional counseling and management
• Palliative care
• Pediatric Liver Center
• Polyposis Clinic

Procedure services:

• Breath hydrogen analyses
• Capsule video endoscopy
• Endoscopic retrograde cholangiography and pancreatography (ERCP)
• Esophageal pH/Impedance testing
• Fecal microbiota transplantation
• Gastrointestinal motility testing
• Liver biopsy
• Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy and jejunostomy tube placement and management
• Stricture dilation and injection
• Unsedated transnasal esophagoscopy
• Upper and lower gastrointestinal endoscopy

Nationally-ranked digestive care for children near and far

Our gastrointestinal consultative clinics are provided at Children's Colorado on Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado, as well as at the following Children’s Colorado Network of Care locations:

• Broomfield
• Highlands Ranch
• Parker
• Central Denver
• Colorado Springs

Digestive Health Institute faculty also see patients in person and/or by telemedicine at the following specialty outreach clinics:

City	Location	Frequency	Date	Schedule
Fort Collins, CO	Fort Collins Youth Clinic	Monthly	Varies	720-777-6669
Greely, CO	Peakview Medical Center	Monthly	Varies	720-777-6669
Billings, MT	Billings Clinic	Varies	Varies	406-238-5012
Durango, CO	Pediatric Partners of the Southwest	Quarterly	Varies	720-777-6669
Durango, CO	Mercy Regional Medical Center	Quarterly	Varies	720-777-6669

With Digestive Health Institute specialists available at each of these locations, our multidisciplinary clinical team is able to see more than 16,750 outpatient visits and perform close to 4,000 GI procedures per year.

Clinical and research programs for a better tomorrow

Our research programs (funded by the NIH, foundations and philanthropy) align with our clinical programs and focus on liver diseases, liver failure, liver transplantation, inflammatory bowel disease, eosinophilic diseases of the GI tract, childhood obesity, short bowel syndrome and celiac disease.

• Our faculty provides national leadership in many National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded research networks and professional organizations.
• Our highly-rated fellowship program is one of only a handful funded by the NIH.
• We currently have 25 full-time pediatric faculty members and nine fellows.

Contact us

Gastrointestinal Eosinophilic Diseases Program
Phone: 720-777-7457

Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center
Phone: 720-777-4600
IBD@childrenscolorado.org

Liver Center
Phone: 720-777-6669

Digestive Health Institute at Anschutz Medical Campus
Phone: 720-777-6669

Aerodigestive Program 
Phone: 720-777-6181

Colorado Center for Celiac Disease
Phone: 720-777-3825
Phone for appointments: 720-777-6669
CeliacCenter@childrenscolorado.org

General Gastroenterology Program 
Phone: 720-777-6669

Liver Transplant
Phone: 720-777-6011