Treatment Options

If you are experiencing heartburn 3-4 times weekly or you believe that your acid reflux may be damaging your esophagus or respiratory tract, it's important to seek out a physician that can help you decide if your current heartburn treatment is adequate to prevent long-term complications.

Non-Surgical Treatment

Depending on the severity and intensity of the issues you are experiencing, we may first recommend the following treatments. If you are experiencing concerning heartburn or swallowing problems, you do not need a referral from a primary care physician to make an appointment with us.

• Diet and lifestyle modifications – We may recommend any of the following to reduce symptoms: reducing alcohol or caffeine intake, smoking cessation, avoiding certain food or changing meal times, weight loss or other behavior modifications.
• Medication - If reflux is being caused by poor stomach emptying, then medicines to help stimulate the stomach may be helpful. Most patients will be helped by acid reduction, but to varying degrees.  If medicine provides good relief and regurgitation of the neutralized gastric contents into the airway is not a concern, then medication alone may be satisfactory.

Surgical Treatment

Our goal with surgery is to have complete control of heartburn and regurgitation, have no requirement for acid-reducing medications and allow the patient to eat whatever they like. Studies show patients treated surgically have a better quality of life than those managed with medication alone.

• LINX Procedure - This procedure is a minimally invasive laparoscopic procedure typically taking less than one hour. It involves the insertion of a flexible band of magnets placed around the esophagus to prevent reflux.
• Laparoscopic Nissen Fundoplication (LNF) - This procedure typically requires several small punctures to insert the laparoscopic camera and instruments into the abdomen. The surgeon then uses an adjacent portion of the stomach—the fundus—to wrap around the defective LES and make it suitably resistant to gastroesophageal regurgitation.  The surgery takes 45 minutes to 2 hours.

Why Choose NGPG?

Patients typically begin prescriptive medical treatment by their Primary Care Physician, although potent medications are available OTC and widely utilized. When treatment fails or symptoms are atypical, the patients are referred to a gastroenterologist for further evaluation.

At the Heartburn & Swallowing Center, we can help you identify if you would be a good candidate for surgery or if medication and lifestyle changes may be enough for you. We create a customized treatment plan for each patient, and unlike many gastrointestinal surgeons, we perform the diagnostics and imaging in-house, interpret the results and make a recommendation that is based on your particular needs and what will yield the best success for you. For this reason, you do not need a referral to the Heartburn and Swallowing Center.

Request an Appointment

To request an appointment with NGPG Heartburn & Swallowing Center, please call us at 770-219-9200 or use the form on this page.