The Department of Gastroenterology at the King George Hospital, Visakhapatnam came into existence in 1984 with the sanctioned posts of one Professor and two Assistant Professors. Services of Colonoscopy are also available in the King George Hospital apart from teaching facilities for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Andhra Medical College. More than 20,000 endoscopic procedures have been performed in the past few years. In collaboration with the Departments of Medicine, Nephrology and Microbiology, the Department of Gastroenterology has conceptualised and successfully completed research projects on 'Helicobacter Pylori' infections causing various Gastrointestinal disorders and chronic renal failure. The Department has records of the endoscopic and inpatient data in a computerised manner for future retrieval and analysis.

At the Department of Gastroenterology, 'Dr C. Mastan Rao Acute Liver Care Unit' was established with two intensive care beds in 1996, Video-endoscopy Unit was established in the year 1996. A 'C' arm from ERCP, oesophageal dilators and diathermy machines are also being added recently.

Apart from the medical care provided at the Department, on the academic front, many CME (Continued Medical Education) programmes in Gastroenterology were organised during the years 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1999, 2001.

The Department has several papers to its credit mainly on 'Helicobacter Pylori' and 'Hepatitis-B'.