Vic Velanovich, M.D., is the first physician in Michigan to perform a new, incisionless reconstructive surgery designed to help patients get relief from gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD.
Approximately 14 million Americans experience symptoms of GERD, including heartburn and esophageal inflammation, on a daily basis. Most manage their disease with medications ranging from Tums and Rolaids to Pepcid and other drugs. Because prescription and over-the-counter drugs do not treat the underlying root causes of reflux, life-long medication therapy is required. Although surgery is highly effective, it is also very invasive, despite the laparoscopic surgical approach. For this reason, less than one percent of the patients choose surgical therapy to repair the anatomical defect(s) that cause GERD.
This new surgical technique moves the science of treating heartburn ahead. This surgery goes beyond the laparoscopic procedures - the traditional minimally invasive surgeries for GERD. Using a long scope that goes down the patient's throat after the patient has been sedated, the surgeon can operate on the esophagus and stomach to stop the heartburn. All of this is done without a single incision.
The device used is an Esophyx device and it is threaded through the patient's esophagus down toward the stomach where the surgery is performed.
Patients receive some significant benefits with this new surgery:
Less invasive
Easier recovery than traditional surgery
Less pain from the surgery
Reduced dependency on prescription to treat the heartburn
