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No matter how serious your reflux or related condition may be, effective treatments are available. These can start with lifestyle changes, such as quitting smoking or changing your diet. Avoiding certain foods and beverages – citrus, tomato products, chocolate, alcohol, coffee, and spicy meals, to name a few—can make a big difference for mild to moderate sufferers. If symptoms persist despite lifestyle changes, over-the-counter and prescription medications are often the next resort. Severe symptoms may require a surgical procedure.
If you have acid reflux or related symptoms, Memorial Medical Center offers diagnosis and treatment options for serious conditions such as heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Contact our Physician Referral Line at 1.800.424.DOCS (3627) to make an appointment with a physician.
Together, we can improve the management of GERD and help you take the next step toward treatment.
Digestive discomforts like heartburn, stomach upset, acid reflux and painful gas could be symptoms of serious medical problems. If you have questions about your digestive health, but aren’t quite sure where to begin, start with a digestive health assessment and learn more about conditions you may have.
There are a number of important diagnostic tests we use to help determine how to treat your heartburn and GERD symptoms.
The upper gastrointestinal series (GI) is a radiographic (X-ray) examination of the upper digestive tract using a liquid suspension that may be a barium or a water-soluble contrast. The esophagus, stomach and duodenum (first part of the small intestine) are made visible on X-ray film by the liquid suspension.
Esophageal pH monitoring is a minimally invasive test that evaluates whether acid from the stomach is refluxing into the esophagus and causing various symptoms. This test requires the attachment of a small monitoring device onto the esophageal wall during an EGD. The test monitors the acid from the stomach for 48 to 96 hours, which assesses whether the patient’s symptoms are correlated with the reflux.
This measures the amount of reflux (both acidic and non-acidic) in the esophagus during a 24-hour period and assesses whether the patient’s symptoms are correlated with the reflux. A catheter will be passed through your nose and throat into your stomach and then withdrawn slightly so that the tip is positioned just above the stomach. The catheter will then be secured to your nose, cheek and neck with tape. You will be able to feel it in the back of your throat, but it should not be too uncomfortable. You will be able to breathe, eat and drink normally.
An alternative method for monitoring esophageal muscle movement, this test is exactly as it sounds. The patient swallows a barium-soaked marshmallow followed by a barium-soaked bagel portion. When swallowed, the movement of the food is tracked through the gastroesophageal junction during fluoroscopic video esophagography. The ability to swallow the portions indicates to the surgeon that the patient can tolerate the anti-reflux surgery.
The patient is asked to perform swallowing maneuvers, providing information on the status of the esophageal muscle function, coordination and contract ability of a patient’s swallowing mechanism. The insertion of a pressure-sensitive catheter through the nose into the esophagus. The procedure takes approximately 30 to 45 minutes to complete. You may resume regular activity, diet, and medications once the procedure is over.
EndoFLIP® is an advanced balloon dilation technology used during endoscopy. EndoFLIP is an advanced technology used to measure the pressure and size of gastrointestinal organs. It can reveal how solid and strong the walls of the organ are.
Using the EndoFLIP impedance planimetry system, gastroenterologists are able to help further the diagnosis of those with dysphagia, or persistent difficulty swallowing. A range of conditions can cause dysphagia, including esophageal motility disorders, which happen when esophageal muscles aren’t working correctly. This affects how food and liquids move from the mouth to the stomach. It often mimics the symptoms of GERD, including frequent heartburn, sore throat, and regurgitation. For those who suffer from dysphagia, an upper endoscopy (EGD) alone often is not enough to gain a diagnosis.
Our digestive health physicians work together to help patients diminish episodes of discomfort, including:
Diagnosis and treatment may include a combination of medication, lifestyle changes, endoscopic therapies, and, when appropriate, surgical procedures.
Based on the results of the diagnostic testing, GERD can be treated a number of ways.
TIF is a minimally invasive treatment for GERD. The TIF procedure is performed from inside the patient’s stomach without incisions. The TIF procedure repairs the anti-reflux barrier by reducing a paraesophageal hernia (≤2cm) and creating a valve 2-4 cm in length and greater than 270-degree circumferential wrap.
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STRETTA therapy is a minimally invasive procedure performed with an EGD. The STRETTA procedure treats the lower esophageal sphincter muscle with radiofrequency energy bursts that stimulate the regenerative growth of the muscle tissue. This allows for the muscle to become thicker to reduce reflux.
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The LINX system uses a small flexible band of interlocking titanium beads with magnetic cores that fits around the Lower Esophageal Sphincter (LES) to provide resistance to opening by the gastric pressures, thus preventing reflux. The LINX device will release the magnetic beads when swallowing fluids and solids, allowing them to pass normally into the stomach. After swallowing, the magnetic beads will come together to close the LES, preventing any reflux after eating or drinking.
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The device that is implanted during this procedure is placed around the lower portion of the esophagus. It is about the size of a quarter and is made of a flexible ring of magnetic titanium beads.
Size comparison of magnetic sphincter augmentation device.
Laparoscopic procedure in which the upper portion of the stomach is wrapped around the LES to strengthen to sphincter to prevent acid reflux and to repair a paraesophageal hernia. The Nissen procedure will strengthen the area of the weakened lower esophagus, which allows for the stomach acids to flow up into the esophagus instead of containing these acids in through the down-stream digestive system.
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