Acid reflux is incredibly common. But just knowing a lot of other people have it doesn’t make the burning, belching and discomfort any less painful or disruptive to your life. When acid reflux becomes a chronic condition, it could be gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Not only is GERD uncomfortable, left untreated, it can also put you at risk for esophageal cancer.
Fortunately, there are many surgical and nonsurgical options to keep your GERD symptoms at bay or cure it entirely. Learn more about this condition and your options to manage it from Sharona Ross, MD, a foregut and hepato-pancreato-biliary surgeon with AdventHealth Tampa.
How to Manage GERD
Many people have experienced the symptoms of reflux from time to time, but if you find yourself having acid reflux or heartburn more than twice per week, you may have GERD.
The first step in treating GERD is lifestyle modifications to ease your symptoms, including:
- Eating a healthy diet
- Exercising
- Identifying and eliminating trigger foods
- Losing weight, if needed
- Quitting smoking
- Taking occasional antacids
If these changes aren’t enough to ease symptoms, your doctor may also prescribe a proton pump inhibitor. However, if you find yourself on this medication to manage GERD in the long run, it may be time to see your gastroenterologist.
“Esophageal cancer is one of the cancers we know is preventable,” says Dr. Ross. “For chronic acid reflux or GERD, the best thing to do is see a gastroenterologist and get an EGD [esophagogastroduodenoscopy] and Bravo pH test to determine if you have significant reflux. If the answer is yes, demand to see a foregut surgeon for evaluation since the only way to cure GERD completely is with surgery.”
During an EGD, your surgeon will run a scope through your esophagus and stomach to look for the impacts of chronic acid reflux. The Bravo pH test will use a capsule attached to your esophagus to measure how much acid comes up from your stomach into your esophagus. These tests will help your surgeon understand how severe your reflux is and if you need more than medication to manage it.
“Proton pump inhibitors cannot prevent the development of esophageal cancer since they don’t stop the production of bile, which can be just as carcinogenic as acid,” says Dr. Ross. “And now, we’re seeing the impacts of long-term medication use. Surgery, on the other hand, can halt the progression of reflux and the need for constant visits and scoping to check for damage.”
Surgical Options to Treat Acid Reflux
Acid reflux and GERD are often caused by a mechanical problem with the esophageal sphincter, the valve between the stomach and esophagus, and medication won’t solve the problem. Fortunately, though, acid reflux surgeries are an option. And with recent surgical innovations, procedures to cure GERD can be done using minimally invasive techniques.
These surgeries can be performed with robotic techniques, which offer many advantages, including:
- A faster, easier recovery
- A high level of surgical precision
- Much less trauma on a patient’s body
- Shorter hospital stays
“These surgeries have brought us a long way from using daily proton pump inhibitors to completely resolving the symptoms of GERD and reducing the risk of cancer,” says Dr. Ross. “Chronic GERD is a mechanical problem with the esophagus that should be solved by fixing the issue — not just with medications that ease some of the symptoms. And the future looks even brighter. Soon, these surgeries will likely be performed with single-port procedures that can lead to even more improvements for our patients.”
Keep the Fire in Your Belly, Leave the Reflux Behind
The burning pain of acid reflux doesn’t have to be part of your life. When you need relief, the skilled and caring team at AdventHealth is ready to help with whole-person treatment to help you feel your best. Learn more.
About Dr. Ross
Board-certified advanced Foregut and HPB surgeon, Dr. Ross has garnered nearly 20 years of vast knowledge and professional experience in her field. A frontrunner in her specialty, she also serves as Director of the Advanced GI and HBP Surgery Fellowship at AdventHealth Tampa Digestive Institute, which trains new surgeons to master minimally invasive complex operations.
