Waldkliniken Eisenberg
Department of Internal Medicine
Our department is mainly focused on the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, diseases of the respiratory tract and metabolic disorders (diabetes mellitus).
We also have special expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with digestive disorders and diseases of the abdominal organs.
In many cases, we treat these diseases endoscopically, i.e. without having to perform an operation. This enables us to eliminate stones from the biliary tract, to remove certain polyps and tumours in the stomach or colon, or to stop bleeding.
Our team of doctors
Stroke
Stroke
Fibrinolytic therapy for stroke
In the event of a stroke, every minute counts: In order to treat patients in our region as quickly as possible and close to home, we carry out fibrinolytic therapy in the case of acute cerebral infarctions.
This involves administering drugs to dissolve blood clots in the brain, which are responsible for causing a stroke. Here, we work closely with our intensive care ward and the radiology department (with a CT scanner available all around the clock).
Providing treatment in good time reduces the risk of damage to the brain with consequential impairments such as speech disorders and paralysis. It is therefore important that an emergency doctor is contacted and the patient is transferred to hospital as quickly as possible – the latest studies suggest a period of three to a maximum of 4.5 hours after occurrence of the typical symptoms, such as speech impairments, visual disturbances, dizziness, headaches, nausea, paralysis or confusion.
Schlaganfall – Ein lebensbedrohlicher Notfall
Examination methods:
Beside fibrinolytic therapy, we offer all of the usual standard procedures for further diagnosis and risk assessment: laboratory, echocardiography, ECG, long-term ECG, duplex sonography, CT and MRI.
Apart from this, we treat our patients with pharmacotherapy, physiotherapy and ergotherapy, as well as all of the necessary rehabilitation measures.
Treatment measures:
- Mobilisation, deficit-orientated physiotherapy
- Speech therapy and ergotherapy (restoration of cognitive functions)
- Swallowing training
- Adjustment to anticoagulant medication
- Possible supply of additional aids (walking frame, crutches)
- Social support, initiation of rehabilitative measures
Diseases of the digestive tract
Diseases of the digestive tract
Possible diseases:
- Gastritis (inflammation of the gastric mucosa)
- Duodenitis (inflammation of the duodenal mucosa)
- Pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas)
- Colitis (inflammation of the large intestine)
- Biliary tract diseases
- Liver diseases
- Tumour diagnostics
Possible examination methods:
- Physical examination
- Blood and stool tests
- Gastroscopy (endoscopic examination of the stomach)
- Coloscopy (endoscopic examination of the intestines)
- X-ray
- CT
- MRI
- Ultrasound examinations, contrast-medium ultrasound examinations
- ERCP (endoscopic examination of the biliary tract and removal of stones)
- Ultrasound-assisted punctures
Possible treatment measures:
- Dietary measures
- Adjustment to gastroprotective, acid-inhibitory medication
- Gastroscopic or coloscopic interventions (e.g. to stop bleeding or treat ulcers, oesophageal varicose veins; removal of polyps as cancer prophylaxis)
- Emergency endoscopies Ascites punctures (removal of abdominal fluid)
- Enemas with anti-inflammatory medication
- Initiation of immunosuppressant (inhibitory) therapy with cortisone, MTX or azathioprine and, if necessary, with TNF-alpha antibodies in the case of Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis
Cardiovascular diseases
Cardiovascular diseases
Possible diseases:
- Myocardial infarction
- Cardiac arrhythmias
- Heart failure
- Pulmonary embolism
- Hypertension
- Angina pectoris
Possible examination methods:
- Physical examination
- ECG at rest and during exercise
- Monitoring
- Blood tests, e.g. blood lipids
- Ultrasound of the heart, including transoesophageal echocardiography and so-called stress echo with medication
- Long-term ECG – and blood pressure measurement
- Short-term organisation of a cardiac catheter examination
- Sleep apnoea screening
Possible treatment measures:
- Fibrinolytic therapy (dissolution of a blood clot)
- Physiotherapeutic mobilisation and gradual increase in exercise
- Adjustment to anticoagulant medication
- Surgical treatment (bypass, stent, widening of the vessels by means of cardiac catheter) – transfer (treatment not given in our hospital)
- Temporary and permanent cardiac pacemaker therapy, implantation of a defibrillator
- Electrical cardioversion to treat cardiac arrhythmias
- Pharmacotherapy of cardiac arrhythmias
- Non-invasive ventilation
Transthoracic and transoesophageal echocardiography
Transthoracic and transoesophageal echocardiography
Echocardiography, alongside the electrocardiogram, belongs to the most important non-invasive methods for examining the heart.
In our Department of Internal Medicine, we have the necessary equipment at our disposal to carry out ultrasound examinations on the heart and we generally make recommendations for treatment to accompany the findings.
- Stress echo
- Contrast medium echo
Diseases of the respiratory tract
Diseases of the respiratory tract
Possible diseases:
- Pneumonia / Inflammation of the lungs
- COPD
- Bronchial asthma
- Emphysema
- Sarcoidosis
- Lung cancer
Possible examination methods:
- X-ray, CT, MRI
- Bronchoscopy (endoscopic examination of the airways) with lavage, cytology
- Spirometry (testing of lung function)
- Pleural puncture
Possible treatment measures:
- In the case of respiratory insufficiency, we offer all types of ventilation: CPAP, non-invasive ventilation, high-flow oxygen therapy
- Pleural puncture, drainage
- Inhalation therapy
- Breathing exercises, secretion mobilisation