A year of firsts in the GI space: 12 updates

From novel procedures to practice openings, here are the firsts from the gastroenterology and endoscopy industry that happened in 2025, as reported by Becker’s. 

Note: This list is not exhaustive.

1. A team of providers from Morgantown, W.Va.-based WVU Medicine became the first in the U.S. to treat a pancreatic lesion using endoscopic ultrasound-guided microwave ablation. 
2. Two physicians, Srinivas Seela, MD, and Harinath Sheela, MD, opened Florida’s first gastroenterology-focused urgent care center in Orlando.
3. The FDA approved linaclotide (Linzess) capsules for pediatric patients 7 years and older with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation, the first treatment approved for this condition in pediatric patients.
4. Winchester, Va.-based Valley Health opened its first system-owned gastroenterology practice. 
5. Louisville, KY.-based Norton Audubon Hospital has become the first facility in Kentucky to offer endoscopic ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation for pancreatic cancer, a minimally invasive procedure that targets tumors with greater precision.
6. Norio Fukami, MD, a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic, completed the first procedure in EndoQuest Robotics’ trial of its endoluminal surgical system.
7. Anniston-based Northeast Alabama Regional Medical Center became the first hospital in Alabama to perform a new gastroenterology biopsy procedure that enables physicians to collect larger, more intact tissue samples for more accurate diagnoses and personalized treatment.
8. Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health opened its first freestanding endoscopy center at Alta View Hospital in Sandy, Utah.
9. Morris (Ill.) Hospital & Healthcare Centers opened a new gastroenterology practice and welcomed its first specialist, Afreen Hyder, MD.
10. AdventHealth Tampa (Fla.) opened a Center for Interventional Endoscopy, the only interventional endoscopy center in the Tampa Bay region. 
11. Nanosonics received FDA De Novo clearance for its new Coris system, a technology designed to improve the cleaning of flexible endoscopes and reduce infection risk.
12. Prabhleen Chahal, MD, became the first practitioner in Texas to be named a master endoscopist by the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.