Dr. Nagaraj Palankar

Dr. Nagaraj Palankar is HOD & Consultant - Surgical Gastroenterology at Manipal Hospital, Old Airport Road, Bengaluru. His qualifications include MBBS, MS in General Surgery and DNB in Surgical Gastroenterology, followed by fellowship training in liver transplantation at Asan Medical Centre in Seoul. His work spans complex gastrointestinal and hepatopancreatobiliary surgery.

His principal areas include liver, pancreatic and biliary surgery, covering cancers of the liver, pancreas and biliary tract, acute and chronic pancreatitis, difficult biliary strictures and bile-duct injuries. Manipal also lists oesophagogastric surgery for oesophageal and stomach cancers, achalasia cardia, reflux disease and selected complex upper-GI conditions.

Dr. Palankar also performs colorectal and metabolic/bariatric surgery. His profile includes surgery for colon and rectal cancers, complex anorectal fistulas, obstetric injuries with anal incontinence and surgical treatment for severe obesity when appropriate. Manipal notes that he helped develop specialised surgical-gastroenterology training and previously initiated a liver-surgery service at Kasturba Medical College.

He speaks English, Kannada and Konkani. Manipal also records his performance of a technically complex Taj Mahal liver resection and his role in running DNB Surgical Gastroenterology training.

For complex abdominal surgery, useful records include contrast CT or MRI, endoscopy, pathology, liver or pancreatic tests and prior operative reports. Treatment planning depends on resectability, anatomy, organ function, previous surgery and multidisciplinary review. Multidisciplinary input may include oncology, endoscopy, radiology and nutrition teams when required.