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Acid Reflux:

Complications from acid reflux are fortunately rare. However they may be classified as:

strictureThe acid and digestive juices are corrosive to the delicate lining of the oesophagus.
Repeated and/or prologed exposure leads to inflammatory changes which may progress to to formation of an ulcer.

Severe inflammation may result in the formation of scar tissue within the wall of the oesophagus.
As this scar tissue matures it contracts and leads narrowing of the oesophageal tube.
Food may become trapped at this point within the oesophagus, leading to a distressing choking fit.

barrett'sBarrett's oesophagus is a condition when the lining cells of the oesophagus change to cope with the continual reflux of stomach contents.
It is considered as a precurser for cancerous change, although this cancerous change is thankfully rare.
However, regular endoscopic surveillance of this change is recommended.
Biopsies of the area are required to check for the early signs of cancerous change.
Oesophagectomy is the recommended treatment of malignant change within Barrett's oesphagus.

Inhalation of gastric contents may result in symptoms of choking, wheezing and breathlessness.
These symptoms invariably occur at night when the patient is asleep and recumbant.
Nocturnal wheezing and coughing may be the only symptoms of acid reflux. This should alert the doctor to the possibility of reflux.
This alone may be an indication for surgery as medication will not halt the reflux, only reduce its acidity.

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Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery Techniques by Nicholas Marshall