GERD can usually be controlled with medication. But if medications don't help or you wish to avoid long-term medication use, your doctor might recommend: Fundoplication. The surgeon wraps the top of your stomach around the lower esophageal sphincter, to tighten the muscle and prevent reflux.
Management and Treatment
The most common GERD medications: Antacids (provide quick relief by neutralizing stomach acids) include Tums®, Rolaids®, Mylanta®, Riopan® and Maalox®. H-2 receptor blockers (which decrease acid production) include Tagamet®, Pepcid AC®, Axid AR® and Zantac®.
Stomach acid can break down tissue in the esophagus, causing inflammation, bleeding, and sometimes an open sore (ulcer). Esophagitis can cause pain and make swallowing difficult. Narrowing of the esophagus (esophageal stricture). Damage to the lower esophagus from stomach acid causes scar tissue to form.
However, if the pain moves around your stomach or chest or it relocates to a new area entirely, you should go to the ER or your doctor immediately. This symptom could signal that the damage from this disease is rapidly expanding into a new location in your body or that you are developing ulcers.
If the pain is not relieved shortly after taking antacids, or is accompanied by these symptoms, seek emergency medical care: Squeezing/tightening in the chest. Feeling out of breath.
What is a TIF procedure? Transoral incisionless fundoplication is a minimally invasive procedure to treat acid reflux, also known as heartburn, and other symptoms associated with chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
When your acid reflux symptoms are not being controlled by medication, it's time to see a gastroenterologist to discuss your options, specialists say.
Can Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease be cured? Yes, GERD can be cured. The most common treatment for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease is medication, which can help to decrease the amount of acid in your stomach. If lifestyle changes don't help, your doctor may also recommend surgery.
Fundoplication. Fundoplication is the most common surgery for GERD. In most cases, it leads to long-term improvement of GERD symptoms. During the operation, a surgeon sews the top of your stomach around the end of your esophagus to add pressure to the lower esophageal sphincter and help prevent reflux.
Treatment might include changing your diet or taking medicine to relieve your symptoms. It might also include changing a medicine that is causing your symptoms. If you have reflux, medicine that reduces the stomach acid helps your body heal. It might take 1 to 3 weeks to heal.
It might feel like food, liquid, or stomach acid coming up into the throat (regurgitation). Nausea, vomiting, and other stomach discomfort are common, as is pain or difficulty swallowing. Sometimes, people mistake GERD symptoms with a heart attack.
If heartburn does not resolve after taking antacids, a person should visit a doctor for evaluation. They may recommend stronger medications, lifestyle modifications, or an endoscopy procedure to further evaluate symptoms.
Then it starts—the burning in the chest, the lump in your throat, and the pain of acid reflux that won't go away without medicine. Chronic heartburn that doesn't go away despite popping several Tums or Rolaids could indicate that you've got GERD.
Lifestyle choices are often a major factor in triggering GERD symptoms, such as heartburn, regurgitation, and chest pain. Some of the most common triggers include eating large meals, consuming acidic or spicy foods, drinking alcohol and caffeine, smoking, and being overweight or obese.
Sometimes, if Gaviscon does not work or agree with you, your doctor or pharmacist may suggest another reflux suppressant. Like Gaviscon, you can buy Peptac or Acidex from pharmacies and supermarkets.
Patients with GERD symptoms may exhibit a spectrum of endoscopic findings ranging from normal endoscopy (EGD negative) to severe ulcerative esophagitis. Recent evidence indicates that a large proportion of patients with GERD have normal endoscopy.
The surgeon will also wrap the upper part of your stomach around the end of your esophagus so that acids from your stomach can't back up into your esophagus. Just like any procedure, hiatal hernia surgery can have risks. You might have bleeding, an infection, breathing problems, bloating, or pain when you swallow.
There is usually minimal pain associated with this operation. The abdomen will be sore as well as the small incision sites, and some patients have shoulder pain for the first day or two.
Among 26,193 patients who underwent primary laparoscopic antireflux surgery, postoperative 90-day mortality and 90-day reoperation rates were 0.13% (n = 35) and 3.0% (n = 750), respectively. The corresponding rates after secondary antireflux surgery (n = 1 618) were 0.19% (n = 3) and 6.2% (n = 94).
If you are experiencing heartburn on a daily basis, it is likely time to be evaluated for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Persistent, untreated GERD may lead to more serious conditions. Sometimes, it can be a precursor to other diseases, including cancer.
More serious complications may emerge, such as the precancerous condition known as Barrett's esophagus, as well as esophageal adenocarcinoma. These GERD complications can result in hospitalizations for anti-reflux surgery, such as Nissen fundoplication.
Long-term acid reflux can damage the esophagus and may lead to a condition known as Barrett's esophagus, which is a precursor to esophageal cancer. Barrett's affects about 3% to 10% of older men, but within this group the risk of developing esophageal cancer is only about four in every 1,000 cases.