Video: New incision-less procedure fixes acid reflux

Larger screen

Chronic, severe heartburn isn't just annoying. If left untreated, it can lead to esophageal cancer. But now patients can get relief with a new procedure that fixes the problem with no incisions.

A chair used to be the only place where Charles Henderly could sleep.

"I'd try to go to bed and a half hour after I'd lay my head down and close my eyes, I would almost have like a regurgitation in my mouth, so I'd come downstairs and get in the recliner," said Henderly.

For 30 years, his severe heartburn meant eating a bland diet and popping antacids all the time.

"I was taking probably Maalox three times a day and I was probably taking Tums almost like candy," said Henderly.

"Some people can't continue to take the medication," said Dr. Scott Melvin, gastrointestinal surgeon. "Either they can't afford it, they have side effects or they just don't want to be on a pill every day. Other patients don't have good relief with symptoms with the medication alone. Those are really the two groups of patients that do quite well with the procedure."

It's a new incision-less procedure using a device called esophyx. The tube goes down through the mouth and into the stomach. Surgeons then rebuild the valve at bottom of the esophagus where it enters the stomach. That stops acid reflux immediately.

"Most patients do quite well and are able to get off medication," said Melvin.

Henderly is now down to just one pill a day. He can eat whatever spicy foods he wants. And that sleep problem?

"And I sleep in bed. I sleep all night," said Henderly. And his chair is back to being just a chair.

Esophyx was just released in the U.S. last October, so doctors don't yet have data on the long-term results, but the procedure is now available locally.