How Gastro Esophageal Reflux disease is treated?
Medical therapy is the first line of management. Esophagitis will heal in approximately 90% of cases with intensive medical therapy. However, symptoms recur in more than 80% of cases within one year of drug withdrawal. Since it is a chronic condition, medical therapy involving acid suppression and/or pro-motility agents may be required for the rest of a patient’s life. Nissen fundoplication is a safe and effective treatment for GERD when medical management fails. The expense and psychological burden of a life time of medication dependence, undesirable life style changes, uncertainty as to the long term effects of some newer medications, and the potential for persistent mucosal changes despite symptomatic control, all make surgical treatment of GERD an attractive option.
