If you deal with acid reflux, you’re not alone. Approximately 40 million Americans have acid reflux. The foregut program at Overlake Medical Center focuses on the prevalent condition, as well as other issues.
“This is sort of a newer subspecialty, which is gaining recognition across the world, specifically for diseases of the upper GI tract, like reflux or cancer,” said Dr. Prakash Gatta, director of foregut surgery at Overlake.
The foregut program offers all available treatment options for acid reflux. Initial treatment is reflux medications, but when you have reflux for an extended period of time, you may deal with precancerous changes, hiatal hernias or even esophageal cancer.
“We are the only, most comprehensive program that would offer newer surgical treatments for acid reflux,” Dr. Gatta said.
These innovative, minimally invasive procedures include Transoral Incisionless Fundoplication (TIF) and LINX. Because of the side effects of traditional fundoplication surgery, there is increased demand for these newer procedures. Everything is also done robotically at Overlake.
“We are a one-stop shop,” Dr. Gatta said. “We have no gaps. We would cover the entire gamut of the disease set, everything from benign disease like reflux to esophageal cancer at the very top of the treatment pyramid.”
Esophageal cancer is on the rise. One of the reasons many clinicians think this is the case is because acid reflux surgery has not been offered enough. Only about 20,000 such procedures are performed nationally, whereas there are 30 to 40 million people suffering from reflux every day.
If you suffer from chronic reflux, food getting stuck, discomfort in the lower chest, or worsening reflux symptoms, it’s important to talk to your primary care physician or specialist.
“It’s one of those things that in the background we are always concerned as clinicians that this might actually be the issue,” Dr. Gatta said.
To learn more about the foregut program, visit the Overlake website.
Sponsored by Overlake Medical Center. Segment Producer Joseph Suttner. Watch New Day Northwest 11 AM weekdays on KING 5 and streaming live on KING5.com. Contact New Day.