GERD Treatments at University of Colorado Hospital

GERD Treatment

Most people manage heartburn discomfort with lifestyle modifications and over-the-counter medications. But if your heartburn is severe, these remedies may offer only temporary or partial relief. You may need more potent medications to reduce symptoms, or require endoscopic treatment or surgery.

If you do not want surgery or lifelong medication, University of Colorado Hospital offers outpatient, minimally invasive endoscopic procedures. They are performed using an endoscope, a small, flexible tube with a light and lens on the end, used to look into gastrointestinal organs.

Two of our endoscopic procedures for GERD are:

Endocinch procedure – stitches the junction between your esophagus and stomach, using a sewing capsule attached to an endoscope. This narrows the opening to prevent acid reflux.

Plicator device – passes through your mouth into your stomach where it places a single suture-based implant near the junction between the esophagus and stomach. This helps restructure the normal anti-reflux barrier.

Barrett’s Esophagus Treatment

You can reduce your chance of developing Barrett's – by making lifestyle changes.

If the condition does develop, we monitor for early warning signs of dysplasia and cancer with endoscopy.

When changes are found the lower esophagus must be surgically removed or its lining destroyed to prevent esophageal cancer from developing.

Two of the effective endoscopic techniques that our doctors use to remove the lower esophagus are:

Ablation Therapy – A small balloon catheter is inserted into your esophagus and correctly positioned. Then energy is applied to the esophageal lining, and the Barrett’s tissue is removed.

Endoscopic Mucosal Resection (EMR) – Performed through an endoscope, EMR lifts up the Barrett’s lining, injects a solution under it or applies suction, then cuts away the lining.