MedWire News: Patients with severe, long-term gastro-oesophageal reflux disease may, in the future, benefit from the surgical implantation of a magnetic device that helps prevent stomach acid escaping into the food pipe, results of an initial study suggest.
A surgical procedure called Nissen fundoplication, in which the top of the stomach is 'sewn' to the lower end of the oesophagus, is currently the most common form of surgery to treat people with severe, long-term gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, explain Dr Robert Ganz, from the University of Minnesota in Plymouth, USA, and colleagues.
But they add that the success rate of Nissen fundoplication surgery varies widely and is associated with significant postoperative complications, such as swallowing difficulties and an inability to belch, which causes 'gas bloating'.
In laboratory experiments involving pigs, the researchers tested the effectiveness of a magnetic device for closing the junction between the oesophagus and the stomach.
The device consists of a bracelet of magnetic beads that is designed to help the oesophageal junction open and close during swallowing by placing additional pressure on the muscles that normally control this process, but which do not work properly in people with severe gastro-oesophageal reflux disease.
The team found that the magnetic device successfully increased the ability of the stomach/oesophageal junction to open and close when the pigs swallowed. The device had no effect on the animals' eating behaviour, did not cause weight gain and there was no significant tissue inflammation at the stomach/oesophageal junction.
Dr Ganz and colleagues conclude in the journal Gastrointestinal Endoscopy: "The sphincter augmentation device is a novel and unexplored therapeutic approach for the treatment of chronic gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. This study has shown the safety and feasibility of such a device in a live porcine [pig] model."
They add: "On the basis of the results of this study, further investigation of this device for the treatment of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease in humans seems warranted."