NW Medical Hosts New Heartburn Relief

People in the business world know a lot about heartburn, but they don’t know as much as Dr. Stephen Stagg.

A gastroenterologist at Northwest Medical Center, Stagg recently performed the first two EndoCinch System endoscopic procedures in Arkansas. It’s the latest in a series of biotechnology advances that the Springdale hospital has introduced to Northwest Arkansas.

Stagg, a nine-year veteran at Northwest, has performed more than 10,000 endoscopies. He trained late last year for doing this new 30- to 45-minute procedure at the prestigious The Medical Education Research Institute in Memphis.

EndoCinch, or endoscopic endoluminal gastroplication, was developed by C.R. Bard Inc. of Murray Hill, N.J. The outpatient procedure treats what is commonly referred to as acid reflux (gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD).

GERD affects more than 15 million Americans and is characterized by frequent heartburn, sour regurgitation and sometimes heavy burping.

“The EndoCinch procedure is effective and it’s safer and less expensive than major surgery,” Stagg said. “It’s done under mild anesthetic. About 90 percent of patients will see their nasty regurgitation relieved, and about 75 percent will see a marked reduction of heartburn and the meds they require.”

An EndoCinch scope is outfitted with the equivalent of a small sewing machine at its tip. The tip is used to sew two or three pleats, or plications, where the stomach and esophagus meet. The pleats act as barriers for stomach acid, and Stagg said the two patients he has treated both reported greatly reduced or resolved acid reflux problems.

rGERD Your Loins Against Acid Reflux

Stress, diet and physical conditions of patients all contribute to GERD.

Over-the-counter and prescription medications are available for treatment, but local pharmacists say the drugs can cost up to $4.50 per capsule for products like Prilosec, adding up to about $2,000 annually. The problem is that symptoms resume when the medication is stopped, and most people don’t want to stay on acid reflux “meds” for the rest of their lives.

The risks of not treating GERD include esophagitis (an irritated esophagus), bleeding, ulcers and a narrowing of the esophagus. For 10 to 15 percent of patients, esophagitis can also lead to Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal cancer.

A laparoscopy, or open-abdomen surgery performed under general anesthesia, is effective but according to Bard’s Web site can cost up to $15,000. It also requires up to three days of hospitalization and a two-week recovery period.

Stagg said only up to 900 EndoCinches have been done nationally. But patients are recovering quickly and reporting positive results.

One financial drawback for EndoCinch is it has not yet been approved by Medicare, so patients over 65 may not have coverage. But EndoCinches cost less than half of major GERD surgery.

Dr. Howard S. Brown of Paragould has also been trained to do EndoCinches, but Arkansas Methodist Hospital there is not yet doing the procedure. A number of doctors in Tulsa and Kansas City do EndoCinches.