“One out of 5 people in Turkey has reflux.”
“Most reflux patients are diagnosed with gastritis.”
“People in Turkey don’t know what reflux is.”
“Reflux is one of the diseases that most negatively affects social life.”
Reflux, which occurs with symptoms such as stomach pain, burning sensation behind the rib cage, upward stomach contents, unexplained cough, sore throat, chest pain, often mislead doctors, causing patients to be treated for pharyngitis, laryngitis, gastritis, and applications such as angiography.
In our country, reflux disease is still not given the necessary importance. Mostly, reflux patients are diagnosed with gastritis and ulcers, and these patients use acid-reducing drugs irregularly without getting their disease checked.
The most important problem is the misdiagnosis.
Most reflux patients are diagnosed with gastritis. In this case, antibiotic treatments are applied to cure gastritis. If a patient has a stomach disease that he has not been able to cope with for many years, reflux disease should come to mind. According to a study by Ege University, one out of every 5 adults in Turkey has reflux. This means around 8-10 million reflux patients.
40% of patients experience very mild reflux. They manage without complaints by taking medication, eating less, and taking some social measures. Especially in the case of gastric hernia, which is seen in 10% of reflux patients, a hole through which the esophagus passes through the diaphragm is enlarged. The valve system at the junction of the stomach and esophagus rises to the upper part of the diaphragm. This is a situation known as gastric hernia. In these patients, complaints may continue despite the acid-reducing drugs. In this group of patients, patients need to take their medications for life. In the treatment of reflux, acid reducers are effective as long as they are taken. The complaints recur when the drug intake is stopped. The only permanent treatment method in this regard is laparoscopic surgery.
Laparoscopic surgery is especially recommended for patients with gastric hernia, patients with esophageal wounds and those who need to take medication continuously, patients who are younger, those who do not benefit from drug therapy, patients who do not want to use drugs continuously and do not want to comply with social measures, and patients whose quality of life is very deteriorated. Despite drug treatment, quality of life cannot be improved in some patients. 70,000 reflux surgeries are performed annually in the United States.
Reflux is confused with other diseases…
Patients in Turkey do not know that they have reflux. There are even those who go to a psychiatrist because of this disease. Laryngitis, pharyngitis, sore throat, hoarseness occur among the diseases that occur when gastric juice starts to escape. This time they start going to otolaryngologists. Those of the ear-nose-throat doctors who do not have a good grasp on this subject remove the patient’s tonsils. They perform angiography on a reflux patient who thinks he is having a heart attack because his chest hurts.
Why has reflux become popular?
Its popularity stems from the new realization of how widespread the disease is. Also, reflux is one of the diseases that affect social life most negatively. Their quality of life is deteriorating as much as heart failure patients. It seems like an innocent disease, but it deeply affects community life. The disease takes away the freedom of eating from the patient. You should not do heavy sports, do not force yourself, for example, you should not be constipated. The patient can sleep on a high pillow. He can’t eat comfortably in the evening. Alcohol is strictly prohibited.
Can laparoscopic reflux surgery be performed in every hospital?
In laparoscopic reflux surgery, it is necessary to have performed 200 operations to be a reflux surgeon. It is necessary to see 50 events each year. He now has reflux surgery expertise. general surgery is a wide field, those who want to be successful in reflux surgery should only do Laparoscopic surgeries and gain experience in this regard. In the USA, laparoscopic reflux surgery is among the second most common surgeries after gallbladder surgery.
After the operation, the patient stays in the hospital for one day. When we operate early in the morning, it can come out in the evening. He can return to work in two or three days. They start feeding right away. The next day, they can be fed with porridge-like food. Soft foods are recommended for one month. Patients can return to work within a week. When the one month period they need to pay attention to, they can eat everything, they can sleep as they want, even without a pillow. They get rid of the dietary restriction. They can drink coffee, orange juice, even alcohol.
