Dr Wang Guoliang is a Chief Physician, Professor, and Master's Supervisor in the Gastroenterology Department of Shanghai General Hospital. Born in 1936, he graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at Shanghai Second Medical University in 1960 and has worked at the same hospital ever since. Promoted to Chief Physician in 1991, he was granted a Special Government Allowance by the State Council in 1992. Becoming a Master's Supervisor in 1995, he has supervised numerous graduate students.

His medical expertise spans the diagnosis and treatment of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, pancreatic disorders, and jaundice. Over four decades of medical research, Dr. Wang has accumulated extensive clinical experience in digestive diseases, particularly excelling in the treatment of liver and pancreatic conditions. In the 1960s, he pioneered endoscopic examinations and, under the guidance of Professors Zhang Zhenqiu and Wu Xiening, early laparoscopic procedures. Laparoscopy directly visualized pathological changes in the liver and gallbladder, significantly advancing the diagnosis of hepatobiliary diseases. Additionally, he introduced fine-needle aspiration with intratumoral injection therapy for liver cancer.

Academically, Dr Wang has published over 40 papers and translations in medical journals. He authored Clinical Splenology and co-authored works including Modern Biochemical Testing and Clinical Practice, Modern Therapeutics for Fatty Liver, and Shanghai Diagnosis and Treatment Nursing Standards. Collaborating with the Medical Engineering Department, he developed the "Mask-Type Three-Lumen Two-Balloon Tube Traction Device," which effectively controls esophageal variceal bleeding while minimizing patient discomfort.

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Time flies, coinciding with the 160th anniversary of Gongji Hospital and the 40th anniversary of its Gastroenterology Department. "Shanghai General Hospital was founded the same year as Mayo Clinic and is one of the oldest hospitals in China... Working here, I feel truly proud." During a casual conversation with Professor Wan Rong, Director of the Department of Internal Medicine at Shanghai General Hospital, we reflected on history，and the untiring efforts of generations of medical predecessors who laid the foundation for this institution with their wisdom and dedication, bringing hope and renewal to countless patients.

Since its establishment, the Gastroenterology Department of Gongji Hospital has grown from infancy to prominence under the stewardship of successive directors, earning its current acclaim through exceptional medical expertise and meticulous humanistic care. It is these "personal stories" interwoven into the historical fabric that evoke profound respect and warmth for medicine. I believe it meaningful—and worth remembering—to carry forward these touching legacies...

In the 1950s, China was in a period of recovery from ruins, and all kinds of national undertakings were booming. As a key development field in New China, medicine attracted many young talents. Wang Guoliang was one of them. With a vision for medicine, he embarked on this path of seeking knowledge. At that time, Shanghai Second Medical College had just been established. This medical college, which was merged from the medical schools of St. John's University, Aurora University, and Tongde Medical College, represented the birth of New China and new medicine.

In 1955, Shanghai Second Medical College strictly followed the teaching system of the Soviet Union at that time. Russian was the main teaching language, and most of the teaching materials were imported from the Soviet Union. This teaching mode brought new perspectives and trends to Chinese medical education at that time. "During the five years in the medical college, what I remember most clearly is that the exams were very strict at that time. At that time, the school adopted a five-point grading system, which included not only written exams but also interviews. Several teachers sat there like judges, and we students went in one by one to take the exam. The teachers' questions paid great attention to details. This process made every student feel nervous, but at the same time, it also taught me how to deal with challenges."

In that special era, medical students often participated in social practice activities. They would often follow their teachers to the countryside to participate in medical rounds and also participated in the prevention and control work of schistosomiasis. Sometimes they even had to "eliminate the four pests" and participate in the patriotic public health campaign. "At that time, sparrows were considered harmful birds and were one of the 'four pests'. The whole of Shanghai was mobilized. Everyone held bamboo poles and waved them on high places until the sparrows were tired and fell to the ground."

As a medical student, Wang Guoliang not only received systematic training in medical knowledge but also, under the guidance of national policies, participated in the social movements and medical practices of that time. These activities had distinct marks of the times and also made him have a deeper understanding of the relationship between medicine, society, and the people.

After graduating from university, Wang Guoliang was assigned to Shanghai General Hospital. At that time, he didn't expect that he would work there for a lifetime. The initial work was very basic and even a bit boring, but as time went by, he gradually discovered the charm of clinical work, especially when he started to come into contact with endoscopic examinations of the digestive system. "At that time, Professor Yue Wenzhao was the director of the Department of Internal Medicine of Shanghai General Hospital. He was also one of the founders of Shanghai First Medical College. He had extremely strict requirements for young doctors, especially valuing ward rounds. Sometimes, after we finished the ward rounds, he would check our work one by one. He was very strict, and we were all afraid of him."

At that time, Shanghai General Hospital was at the forefront in the whole country, but the equipment and technology were still relatively backward. There were also many challenges in clinical practice. "The medical technology at that time was not as advanced as it is now, but Shanghai General Hospital had already come into contact with the new diagnosis and treatment technology of digestive endoscopy. At that time, there was no Gastroenterology Department yet. Led by Zhang Zhenqiu, the director of the Department of Internal Medicine of our hospital, we had participated in the research and application of endoscopy very early."

The digestive endoscope that Wang Guoliang mentioned was a rigid endoscope, a very primitive device. To operate such an endoscope, at least two people needed to cooperate. The patients also suffered a lot. The whole operation process was cumbersome and time-consuming, and every step of the operation required extra care. These endoscopic devices were not as easy to operate as the flexible endoscopes nowadays. The hard and heavy steel tubes would directly enter the patient's mouth, and then the patient's digestive tract would be observed. "Sometimes, we could only complete the operation quickly in a short time to avoid the patients suffering more pain. If we could complete two endoscopic operations in a day, it was already considered a very high efficiency at that time."

In that era when materials were scarce and medical equipment was far from perfect, the doctors at that time did not give up exploration and experimentation, which all contributed to the advancement of medicine.

During the ten years after 1966, the daily operation of Shanghai General Hospital was seriously affected. "During the Cultural Revolution, our director of the Department of Internal Medicine, Yue Wenzhao, suffered unfair treatment, and his family life was also greatly affected. Professor Zhang Zhenqiu also didn't survive these ten years. Looking back, the development of the hospital and the department stagnated during this period."

It was not until 1977 that the spring breeze of reform swept across China, and a new chapter began in the development of Shanghai General Hospital.

After the end of the ten-year turmoil, the work of the hospital was gradually restored. In 1983, Wang Guoliang, Jiang Xihua, and Wu Xiening jointly published a paper. This report provided a detailed analysis of tuberculosis of the digestive system, which was at that time a disease second only to pulmonary tuberculosis among the tuberculosis diseases in the body. In the research, they found that the most common site of tuberculosis was the ileocecal region, while other sites were relatively rare. This disease usually lacked specific symptoms and signs, and was prone to be missed or misdiagnosed.

From these cases, Wang Guoliang realized the difficulty of diagnosing tuberculosis of the digestive system and emphasized the importance of surgical and pathological diagnosis to increase the attention paid to this disease. His research provided valuable experience for clinical doctors and helped improve the accuracy and effectiveness in the identification and treatment of tuberculosis of the digestive system in the following work. In his view, medical research is not only about discovering new diagnosis and treatment technologies, but also about correctly identifying and diagnosing cases in order to provide precise treatment for patients. "I don't have grand ideals. I just want to engage in clinical work step by step according to my own interests. Most of the time, the process of treating the sick and saving lives requires not only technology, but also meticulousness and patience. Just like those difficult and complicated cases I have encountered, sometimes we need to carefully inquire about the medical history and deeply understand the patients' background and living environment in order to find the real cause of the disease."

In 1985, under the leadership of Professor Wu Xiening, the Gastroenterology Department of Shanghai General Hospital was officially established. In the following more than ten years, the Gastroenterology Department of Shanghai General Hospital developed from just a few hospital beds at the beginning to an independent department with its own independent ward area and outpatient department. By the end of the 1980s, the number of patients increased year by year, and the treatment level steadily improved. "Before the establishment of the Gastroenterology Department, the Gastroenterology Department and the Hematology Department shared one ward area, and there were not many hospital beds. But with our progress in clinical work and research, the Gastroenterology Department gradually grew and developed. By the end of the 1980s, we already had our own independent ward area and outpatient department. We also set up sub-specialties, such as the Hepatobiliary Specialty, which further improved the accuracy of diagnosis and treatment."

In Wang Guoliang's eyes, Professor Wu Xiening is a very dedicated expert. Even in his 90s, he has always been committed to academic research and has never stopped. In 1991, Wang Guoliang was promoted to Chief Physician of the Gastroenterology Department, which marked that he had more room to display his abilities. At that time, he had rich clinical experience. Under his leadership, young doctors were more skilled in dealing with complex and difficult cases. "In our era, inquiring about the medical history was extremely important. At that time, many patients were hospitalized due to ascites. Through these techniques, we could clearly diagnose whether there were lesions in the bile ducts or the liver. I remember a patient from the countryside who had been misdiagnosed as having ascites caused by liver cirrhosis for many years. But through careful inquiry about his medical history, we learned that he was hit in the abdomen by a hoe during his work, which led to the injury of the portal vein, and then we found the real cause of his ascites. There was also a patient from Northeast China who had a similar situation of ascites. After detailed recollection, he remembered that he had been crushed by a heavy object in the abdomen, and finally we diagnosed that his portal vein was damaged. Without detailed collation of the medical history, these cases would easily be misdiagnosed."

In that era, the medical technology was not as advanced as it is today, and the diagnostic and treatment equipment was relatively simple. Every breakthrough made by doctors was inseparable from the accumulation of clinical experience and persistent exploration. "At that time, I had been practicing for 30 years and had relatively rich clinical experience, especially in dealing with difficult and complicated cases of the digestive system. In our era, most of the patients we encountered had serious diseases such as liver cirrhosis with ascites and gastrointestinal bleeding. The wards were often overcrowded, and the treatment methods were very limited. At first, the treatment effect was not good. Many patients with ascites and bleeding caused by portal hypertension had poor treatment effects and a high mortality rate. Later, with the efforts of everyone, the mortality rate continued to decrease."

At that time, the incidence of liver diseases caused by hepatitis B and schistosomiasis was very high, but the available treatment methods were very limited. In the early stage, it was mainly symptomatic treatment. It was not until the emergence of antiviral drugs later that the treatment effect was gradually improved. Portal hypertension was one of the common complications at that time. Wang Guoliang and his team were the first to report the curative effect of drug treatment, which was of great significance at that time. "There were a lot of liver diseases in our era, especially chronic hepatitis B, and there were hardly any effective treatment methods. Before the appearance of antiviral drugs, many treatments could only relieve the symptoms."

At that time, among the patients who came for treatment, there were also many with liver cirrhosis, ascites, and gastrointestinal bleeding caused by schistosomiasis. These diseases often led to portal hypertension. Because after the blood flow in the portal vein was blocked, the blood would bypass the liver through the collateral circulation, which would cause the increase of the pressure in the veins of the lower esophagus and the fundus of the stomach and form varicose veins. Once these veins ruptured, it would cause serious gastrointestinal bleeding. "At that time, we also made a lot of attempts in the treatment of portal hypertension. The application of some drugs was first reported by us. We found that they had a certain effect in reducing the pressure of the portal vein. At that time, this was regarded as a kind of progress."

There were also many patients who were admitted to the hospital for the treatment of jaundice. Some jaundice was caused by extrahepatic obstruction, and some was the result of intrahepatic bile duct obstruction, all of which needed to be carefully distinguished. Through the PTC technology carried out in the early stage, Wang Guoliang examined the bile ducts of these patients, found the blocked parts, and solved the diagnostic problems of some complicated cases through the ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography) technology. The so-called Percutaneous Transhepatic Cholangiography (PTC) is an imaging diagnostic technology used to evaluate the condition of the hepatobiliary system. By puncturing the liver through the skin and then injecting a contrast agent, this technology can clearly show the structure and function of the bile ducts, thus helping doctors diagnose whether there are obstructions or other lesions in the bile ducts. In Wang Guoliang's era, this technology played an important role in the diagnosis of patients with jaundice of unknown cause. It could clearly detect the lesions in the bile ducts or the intrahepatic bile ducts, help find the cause of jaundice, and thus guide the subsequent treatment. "In China, we carried out the ERCP and PTC technologies relatively early, and it indeed solved a lot of problems."

In addition to the innovation in diagnosis and treatment, Wang Guoliang also successfully developed the "Mask-Type Three-Lumen Two-Balloon Tube" traction device together with the Medical Engineering Department. This invention greatly reduced the pain of patients with esophageal variceal bleeding caused by portal hypertension. The commonly used treatment method in the early stage was to use the traditional three-lumen two-balloon tube to stop bleeding by compressing with the balloon. The so-called "three-lumen two-balloon" is a first-aid measure for the treatment of upper gastrointestinal bleeding, especially in the case of bleeding from ruptured esophageal and gastric fundus varices. The "three-lumen two-balloon" tube is a special gastric tube, which has three channels and two balloons: one gastric balloon, one esophageal balloon, and a tube for aspirating gastric juice. When the varices in the esophagus or the fundus of the stomach rupture and bleed, the three-lumen two-balloon tube compresses the veins by inflating the balloons, thus achieving mechanical hemostasis. This is a temporary first-aid measure, usually used in emergency situations where other hemostatic methods (such as drugs, endoscopic treatment, etc.) cannot control the bleeding temporarily. But this method often made patients very uncomfortable. "At that time, there were often patients with esophageal vein rupture caused by portal hypertension in our ward. These patients had a large amount of bleeding, and the rescue was very difficult. Once I saw that the patient was fixed by the tube and was very uncomfortable, and couldn't even move his head. Then I thought, could we let the patient move a little more freely? Later, I designed a mask-type traction device, which allowed the patient's head to move freely, and thus the patient's pain was greatly reduced."

Wang Guoliang realized that patients could not always bear great pain for a long time. Therefore, he designed a device that could allow the patient's head to move freely. By fixing the traction device with a mask, the discomfort of the patient was reduced, and good results were achieved in clinical application. Although Wang Guoliang's invention was not widely promoted, it achieved remarkable results in his hospital, and both patients and medical staff recognized this innovation. Wang Guoliang thought that such a small innovation was very meaningful and practical. In his opinion, this might be the embryonic form of the transformation between medicine and engineering.

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