Surgery ‘best option’ for true refractory heartburn

But careful patient selection is required, say researchers
Clare Pain
surgery

Thorough work-up of patients with PPI-refractory heartburn is important to find the minority of patients with true reflux-related symptoms who may benefit from surgery, a clinical trial suggests.

US researchers enrolled 366 people (median age 48.5 years, mostly male) presenting at veterans’ gastroenterology clinics with PPI-refractory heartburn.