Suggest Treatment For Severe GERD, Damaged Esophagus And Hiatal Hernia

Posted on Thu, 4 Dec 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 4 Dec 2014 Answered on

Mon, 29 Dec 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : I have severe gerd , damage to my esophagus and a hiatal hernia and my Gastraoligist refer erred me to baritric surgery and that doctor wants to give me a gastric sleeve but the research i did said it cause gerd or can get worse if you already have it. He told me if he fix my hernia and i lose weight then it will go away if i eat right. I Just wanna know what you think? Im scared and want to right surgery for me!

Answered by Dr. Grzegorz Stanko (25 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
This seems to be the right decision.

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Thank you for the query.

The point is that obesity and hiatal hernia are both strong factors of GERD. Removing both factors will be beneficial for you. So you should not be scared. It seems to be the right decision. Please note that:
1. there will be hernia fixed - this will allow to keep the food in the stomach instead of refluxing it to esophagus and
2. due to weight loss you will have abdominal pressure decreased what will additionally help with keeping food in the stomach
3. you will be eating less as your stomach will be getting full quickly - this will decrease the production of stomach acid

This type of surgery is performed with laparoscopy. We can call it minimal invasive. So no need to be scared. This seem to be the right decision.

Hope this will help. Feel free to ask further questions.
Regards.

Note: Revert back with your health reports to get further guidance on your gastric problems. Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj