New Surgical Procedure Offers Hope to Chronic Heartburn Sufferers

Contact: Tia Trivison, Mgr., Marketing & PR for Clinical Services, (740) 593-9572

ATHENS, Ohio (March 16, 2000) -- According to a 1995 Gallup Study, 40 percent of all Americans suffer from some sort of heartburn at least once per month. Of these, 18 million have heartburn serious enough to necessitate taking over-the-counter medications or prescription drugs to combat the condition. For some of these people, even medication is not effective in relieving the discomfort of heartburn. Now, surgeons at the University Osteopathic Medical Center (UOMC) in Athens are offering hope to patients who are appropriate for their videoscopic surgery for the treatment of chronic or more serious heartburn, also known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Heartburn is characterized by stomach acid that comes up into the chest and lower esophagus. The causes of heartburn can be numerous -- excessive stomach acid from eating large quantities of rich food, pregnancy, malfunctioning esophageal valve, or a hiatal hernia.

When a person experiences heartburn only occasionally, an over-the-counter antacid will usually put out the fire most of the time. For people with GERD, a mechanical failure is typically at the root of the problem. A weakened esophageal valve or hiatal hernia that causes the valve to malfunction can allow acid to come out of the stomach and up the esophagus on a regular basis. For these people, prescription drugs may help the symptoms temporarily but the underlying cause of the problem can only be corrected by surgical intervention.

Drs. James Bove, III and J. Michael Sutherland, UOMC general surgeons who practice at O'Bleness Memorial Hospital and Doctors Hospital of Nelsonville, utilize a new tool to assist in performing GERD surgery. The harmonic scalpel is a new cutting device that uses sound waves as its source of power. Because of its precision in cutting and coagulating tissue and vessels, the harmonic scalpel offers many benefits to patients, including smaller incision, shorter hospital stay, less damage to tissues, quicker recovery and reduced scarring. Surgery to correct gastroesophageal reflux disease has a 90 percent success rate and is available at O'Bleness Memorial Hospital and Doctors Hospital of Nelsonville.

For more information or to set up an interview with Dr. Bove or Dr. Sutherland, contact Tia Trivison at 593-9572.