Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)

Radiofrequency Treatment for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)

People who suffer from chronic heartburn or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) have an alternative to lifelong medication treatment or anti-reflux surgery. The Stretta procedure controls reflux, provides relief of symptoms and decreases or eliminates the need for medications.

It is a nonsurgical, minimally invasive procedure that is done on an outpatient basis. Patients go home the same day.

How does it work? The patient is given a sedative. The physician slips a flexible tube, called an endoscope, over the back of the patient's tongue and into the esophagus. The endoscope has a miniature camera on its end that lets doctors measure the point where the esophagus and stomach meet. Then the physician replaces the endoscope with a balloon-tipped catheter.

The procedure takes less than an hour, and patients go home afterward. Patients may have some abdominal tenderness in the days after the procedure, but it usually disappears in three to five days.

The Stretta procedure is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Most patients who took part in the clinical trials of the procedure were able to stop taking all acid-blocking medications for heartburn symptoms within three months after the procedure. However, individual results may vary.

To be a candidate for the procedure, people with heartburn and acid regurgitation cannot have a hiatal hernia larger than one inch long. A hiatal hernia results when the stomach protrudes up into the esophagus. This condition is often associated with more severe acid reflux.