Get ready to say goodbye to chronic heart burn
Advanced treatment that fits your lifestyle
If you’re among the 20% of Americans who suffer from Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease, or GERD, you know the impact it can have on your life. Thanks to a weak valve between your stomach and esophagus, stomach acid flows backward, causing painful heartburn and even regurgitation. Reflux can also affect the throat, vocal cords, and lungs, causing coughing, wheezing, bronchitis, pneumonia, and asthma. Over time, these symptoms can lead to serious complications—even cancer.
Now, Dignity Health – St. John’s Regional Medical Center offers a safe procedure to resolve the symptoms of GERD right where they start, at the top of the stomach. Transoral Incisionless Fundoplication, or TIF, is a minimally invasive procedure to treat severe and ongoing acid reflux with greater effectiveness and comfort than other options.
Take the next step
Talk to your doctor about whether you might be a candidate for TIF. For more information, or a referral to a gastroenterologist, please call us at (855) 977-9904.
What is Transoral Incisionless Fundoplication?
Transoral Incisionless Fundoplication (TIF) is a minimally invasive procedure to treat severe and ongoing acid reflux (heartburn) caused by a faulty valve that allows stomach acid to back up into the esophagus. The chronic discomfort of GERD is typically managed through diet restrictions and drug therapies or, in some cases, through laparoscopic surgery, to which TIF offers a more comfortable procedure with favorable clinical results.
How TIF works
- Using the innovative EsophyX® device, the TIF procedure is incisionless.
- The gastroenterologist guides the device to the stomach endoscopically, via a slender tube inserted through the mouth.
- Advanced camera and repair instruments on the device allow the surgeon to view and handle the top of the stomach.
- There, the surgeon makes tiny folds in the tissue to create a new and more secure valve to prevent continued stomach acid reflux.
Advantages of TIF
- Most patients treated with a TIF procedure can soon discontinue heartburn medications and resume a less restricted diet.
- Compared to more invasive surgery, TIF offers a more secure and lasting valve repair.
- TIF also offers less discomfort, healing time, scarring, or other potential complications often associated with surgical incisions.
Take the next step
Talk to your doctor about whether you might be a candidate for TIF. For more information, or a referral to a gastroenterologist, please call us at (855) 977-9904.