Since 1991, he has done the surgery laparoscopically, using five small, half-inch incisions to insert instruments, a light and a video camera. Images from the camera are transmitted to a monitor and allow him to see the stomach and esophagus and proceed with the operation, which takes less than two hours. Now, we do the procedure laparoscopically, and most patients go home the next day with just five small bandages on the abdomen. For most people, heartburn is an occasional discomfort that comes from eating too much greasy or spicy food, chocolate or tomato-based products or drinking too much coffee, citrus juice or alcohol. These foods and beverages stimulate the production of stomach acid, which can slosh into the esophagus and irritate the lining, causing heartburn.
Antacids usually bring quick relief.
But the heartburn caused by gastroesophageal reflux isn't as easy to live with, says Dr. Ken DeVault, a Mayo Clinic Jacksonville gastroenterologist. Symptoms are frequent and may be accompanied by food sticking in the esophagus, a sour taste, bleeding, weight loss, coughing or hoarseness. The condition can aggravate asthma and cause chronic pneumonia if the acid is sucked into the windpipe. Untreated, reflux disease can lead to severe chest pain that mimics a heart attack, an obstruction of the esophagus or pre-cancerous changes in the food pipe's lining called Barrett's esophagus. Reflux is often caused by a malfunction in the valve at the bottom of the esophagus.