GORD and hiatus hernia Flashcards
What is GORD?
- Gastric acid from stomach leaks into the oesophagus
- More common in men and in western countries
Describe the pathophysiology of GORD?
- Lower oesophageal sphincter normally controls passage of contents from oesophagus to stomach
- In GORD, the sphincter is relaxed more frequently than normal
- Refluxed acidic contents than result in pain and mucosal damage
Risk factor for GORD?
- Age
- Obesity
- Male gender
- Alcohol, smoking
- Caffeinated drinks, fatty/spicy foods
What are the clinical features of GORD?
- Chest pain
- burning, retrosternal
- worse after meals, lying down, bending over or straining
- relieved by antacids
- Belching, odynophagia, chronic/nocturnal cough
- Red flags: dysphagia, weight loss, early satiety, malaise
Describe a classification system for GORD?
- Los Angeles classification
- Based on mucosal breaks in distal oesophagus from endoscopy
- Grade A: breaks <= 5mm
- Grade B: breaks >5mm
- Grade C: breaks extending between tops of >=mucosal folds but <75% circumferance
- Grade D: circumferential breaks (>=75%)
Name some differentials for GORD to consider?
- Malignancy (oesophageal or gastric)
- Peptic ulceration
- Oesophagitis
- Oesophageal motility disorders
Name the invesitgations that should be performed for a suspected GORD?
- Clinical diagnosis from good history + resolution of symptoms with PPI
- Upper GI endoscopy
- Investigate malignancy and complications of reflux
- 24hr pH monitoring is gold standard for GORD diagnosis
- Combined with oesophageal manometry to exclude oesophageal dysmotility
Describe pH monitoring studies?
- Assess:
- Amount of time acid is present in the oesophagus
- Correlation between acid presence and patients symptoms
- Produces a DeMeester score
- Can help determine patients symptom-reflux correlation
Describe the management of GORD?
- Avoid known precipitants
- alcohol, smoking, coffee
- Encourage weight loss
- Medical and surgical interventions
Describe the medical management of GORD?
- PPIs (first line for majority of patients)
- Likely to remain on them for life unless they undergo surgery
What are the main indications for surgery in GORD?
- Failure to response to medical therapy
- Patient preference to avoid life-long medication
- Patients with complications of GORD (recurrent pneumonia or bronchiectasis)
Describe the surgical management of GORD?
- Fundoplication
- The top part of the stomach is wrapped around the lower oesophagus
- Recreates a physiological lower oesophageal sphincter
What are the main side effects of anti-reflux surgery?
- Dysphagia
- Bloating
- Inability to vomit
Describe 2 new techinques for the management of GORD?
- Stretta
- Radio-frequency energy is delivered endoscopically to cause thickening of the lower oesophageal sphincter
- Linx
- String of magnetic beads is inserted laparoscopically around the lower oesophageal sphincter to tighten the LOS
What are the main complications of GORD?
- Aspiration pneumonia
- Barret’s oesophagus
- Oesophagitis and oesophageal strictures
- Oesophageal cancer
Immediately after surgery for severe oesophagitis, a patient reports difficulty belching, increased saliva, and abdominal pain. What is the likely cause of these symptoms?
The Nissen fundoplication procedure has wrapped the fundus of the stomach too tightly around the gastrooesophageal junction