Acid reflux, heartburn and indigestion often occur at the most inopportune times and can interfere with your quality of life in Stockbridge. While there are many lifestyle changes and over-the-counter medications to relieve heartburn and acid reflux, these treatment methods are often unsuccessful at offering full relief from the symptoms associated with severe gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD. Acid reflux surgery is a proven method for correcting reflux caused by hiatal hernia.
In Stockbridge, you can obtain medical or surgical treatment for acid reflux that can reduce or even eliminate your symptoms, helping to improve your health and wellbeing.
What is Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)?
When heartburn and acid reflux become chronic, the condition is known as gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD. This condition does not refer to occasional bouts of heartburn, but instead consists of heartburn and acid reflux cases that occur at least three times a week.
GERD cannot be treated through dietary and other lifestyle changes alone. While adjusting your diet to resist common heartburn triggers can often reduce the severity of your GERD, it is not a cure. Patients with GERD have a damaged lower esophageal sphincter, or LES. This is the valve that sits at the bottom of the esophagus, closing off the esophagus from the stomach. When food passes through the esophagus, the valve opens to permit contents downward, and then closes quickly to prevent digestive juices like stomach acid and bile from entering the esophagus.
When the LES malfunctions, the valve does not close quickly enough or at all, thereby permitting the upward passage of digestive juices that severely aggravate the esophageal lining, ultimately resulting in heartburn and acid reflux. While medications are sometimes useful at reducing the pain associated with acid reflux, the only way to cure GERD is by repairing the LES with acid reflux surgery in Stockbridge.
Minimally Invasive Acid Reflux Surgery in Stockbridge
Dr. Bagnato performs minimally invasive reflux surgery and transoral reflux surgery less than one hour outside of Stockbridge in Georgia.
Dr. John Bagnato is a highly experienced acid reflux surgeon who specializes in the use of minimally invasive or laparoscopic surgical methods. Laparoscopic surgery eliminates the need for a large, open wound during the course of an operation by permitting your acid reflux surgeon to operate through three to five small holes in the abdominal wall. This reduces scarring as well as the risk associated with the procedure. Many laparoscopic acid reflux procedures are performed on an outpatient basis, which drastically shortens the hospital stay formerly associated with acid reflux surgery.
In addition to laparoscopic surgery, Dr. John Bagnato offers transoral incisionless surgery in Stockbridge. This surgical technique uses endoscopic methods to repair the lower esophageal sphincter through the mouth. There is zero external scarring and a far reduced risk of infection or complication associated with transoral reflux surgery, even compared to laparoscopic surgery.
For more information about overcoming heartburn and acid reflux in Stockbridge with acid reflux surgery, contact us.
