Acidity reflux treated endoscopically in first ARMS process of Central India

Nagpur: Many of us commonly experience the burning sensation in chest and sometimes the stomach acid flows back into mouth through the tube connecting mouth and stomach called esophagus.
While most of us experience such problems once in a while and get rid of it by having medicines, some people face this more frequently and have serious effects of the same.This condition is called Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). This backwash (acid reflux) is not only irritating but also damages the lining of the esophagus.
Recently, a 24-year-old girl who had severe Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) was treated in Nagpur by performing a novel procedure — “Anti Reflux Mucosectomy” (ARMS). This technique is relatively new endoscopic procedure for GERD treatment introduced just four year ago by Japanese professor Haruhiro Inoue.
It was performed for the first time in Central India at Midas Hospital by Dr Saurabh Mukewar and his endoscopy team — Dr Shital Ganjre, Shailesh Chawhare, Kumar Sambodhi and Pooja Fodekar.
“The patient was a young girl with troublesome symptoms of heartburn and regurgitation. She was diagnosed to have GERD. She was treated with medications, which improved her symptoms of heartburn but she continued having troublesome regurgitation causing her significant discomfort. She desired to have a non-surgical “scarless” option for management of her symptoms,” said Dr Saurabh Mukewar.
While speaking about the ARMS, he said that it’s an “incisionless”, “scarless” and “painless” procedure performed using minimally invasive approach with endoscopy. “In this procedure, the upper layer of the stomach lining just below the connection with esophagus is removed with endoscopy. Following removal, the tissue heals by “scarring” and thus results in reduction in “reflux” of contents into the esophagus and resolution of symptoms,” he said.
Treatment of GERD involves taking acid suppressant medications, which are very effective but have been associated long-term complications such as dementia, kidney failure, loss of bone density.
“Patients with GERD often have to take these medications on a daily basis. ARMS procedure provides a simple non-surgical option for treatment of this condition. Majority of patients undergoing ARMS procedure have improvement in their symptoms and patients can stop or reduce the dose of their acid suppressant medications,” said Dr Mukewar.
“The patient was having a long and active life ahead to live. So, we decided to go for this process. Follow up will tell us more about the success of the process. This could be a game changer in treating GERD in future,” said Dr Shrikant Mukewar, veteran gastroenterologist of Central India.