Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Patients who suffer from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) often have to give up their favorite foods because of bothersome symptoms, which can include chronic heartburn, acid reflux, difficulty swallowing and constant belching. Medications can help but they sometimes come with irritating side effects. But a new procedure is offering hope for patients who suffer from GERD.

Dr. David Carroll of Surgical Specialists of Jackson, Miss., offers a completely noninvasive procedure to treat GERD that requires no injection, cutting or penetration of the skin. It is called transoral incisionless fundoplication (TIF) surgery with the EsophyX device. Dr. Carroll says he has performed the procedure many times laparoscopically over the past 15 years, but the new EsophyX device allows him to perform the surgery using an endoscope inserted through the patients’ mouths.

“It developed over the last several years. The results are really good,” Dr. Carroll told the Clarion Ledger. He performed the first TIF with the EsophyX in Mississippi on 46-year-old Connie Braswell of Pearl, Miss. Braswell had treated her GERD symptoms for years with Nexium, but last year her symptoms worsened. “It got to the point where I was burping every day, all day long. It was very irritating,” she says.

Two gasterenterologists and two general practitioners tried her on various medications, including Reglan (metoclopramide), but nothing worked. She began restricting her diet, giving up dairy products, spicy food, coffee, and her beloved Dr. Pepper. She shed 28 pounds in the process, but she wasn’t happy. She missed the foods she used to enjoy.

Then Dr. Carroll told her about the new, noninvasive procedure using the EsophyX device, and it changed her life. “I prayed and prayed to get better and nothing else worked,” she says. “and this is working.”

Pictured are Dr. David Carroll, Dr. Jeffrey Glover and Dr. David Miller of Surgical Specialists of Jackson.

Related posts:

• New study may lead to different treatments for GERD
• New GERD treatment may spell relief for sufferers
• Procedure shows promise versus drugs for children with gastroparesis
• Chronic cough may be symptom of GERD
• Device offers alternative treatment for gastroparesis

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 7:00 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.