{"id":5013,"date":"2015-11-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-11T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/2015\/11\/11\/linx-reduces-reflux-for-patients-with-heartburn\/"},"modified":"2019-12-02T15:08:53","modified_gmt":"2019-12-02T22:08:53","slug":"linx-reduces-reflux-for-patients-with-heartburn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/linx-reduces-reflux-for-patients-with-heartburn\/","title":{"rendered":"LINX reduces reflux for patients with heartburn"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Millions of Americans suffer from heartburn.<\/p>\n

They live with pain behind their breastbone or regurgitation and spend millions of dollars trying to control their symptoms with over-the-counter antacids and pharmaceuticals.<\/p>\n

What most patients don\u2019t understand is that the medications only help to treat the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease \u2013 GERD \u2013 but they do nothing for the actual mechanical problem that is allowing the reflux to occur.<\/p>\n

\"\"Heartburn is caused by a weak lower esophageal sphincter that allows harmful gastric fluid from the stomach to reflux into the esophagus. Medications help neutralize the acid, lessening the pain, but reflux and ongoing damage to the esophagus persists.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatients have limited understanding of the disease. Most of them think that the medicine is actually taking care of the problem, instead of just masking the symptoms,\u2019\u2019 said Jenifer Marks, MD, a thoracic surgeon at UCHealth Colorado Springs (Memorial Hospital). \u201cThey are still refluxing; it\u2019s just that the pain is improved because the actual material coming back up is not acidic.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Marks said when patients understand they still have reflux, which can continue to damage the esophagus, or they simply do not want to take the medications long term, some look for surgical options. Marks is among the first surgeons in Colorado to offer a new surgical treatment for GERD called the LINX procedure.<\/p>\n

The LINX device is a small ring of magnetized titanium beads that is laparoscopically implanted around the lower esophageal sphincter and helps to augment its function. \u00a0With a LINX device in place, the sphincter opens during a normal swallow, but normal intragastric pressure is not enough to open the device and allow reflux.\u00a0 The device, which looks like a small linked bracelet, is designed to help the sphincter stay closed to prevent reflux but is designed to open with increased intragastric pressure associated with belching, or if the patient needs to vomit.<\/p>\n

The device is about the size of a quarter and is implanted during a standard minimally invasive laparoscopic procedure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe surgery is for people who have GERD and are not happy with their symptom control on medication, and that\u2019s an enormous number of people,\u2019\u2019 Marks said.<\/p>\n

Approved by the FDA in early 2012, the implant has been used in Europe for many years. The recent push to allow more medical centers in the United States to implant LINX came after the publication of\u00a0a five-year safety and efficacy data from multiple centers in the United States. At five years, the study showed:<\/p>\n