Stretta or lynx
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After a manometry test i have been told i have weak oesophageal muscles and hypotensive upper oesophagus... therefore the surgeon has suggested that best option for me is stretta whereas I would have preferred either lynx or fundoplication for my regurgitation.my insurance company (axa) have declined to pay for stretta or lynx.... on the basis that there is no evidence that they are effective..... i am very confused.if these procedures are not effective then surely they would not have been approved by nice and be offered under NHS? Any Advice will be helpful...... better still if anyone has has lynx or stretta and has found it effective? Please enlighten me.thank you all
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Barretts dhimi29434
Posted
I have reservations about Stretta.
From the Down With Acid book:
A 10 year follow-up report of patients who had received Stretta therapy published in Surgical Endoscopy February 2014 showed "72 % of patients normalizing GERD symptom scores, 41 % of patients able to remain off regular medication for GERD, 64 % of patients able to reduce medication use by 50 % or greater, and more than 60 % sustained improvement in satisfaction."
Those figures don't look very impressive to me.
I have recently collected data on pevalence of extra-oesophageal reflux symptoms prior and subsequent to reflux reduction therapy for a new paper. Only one respondent had had Stretta but claims his symptoms have worsened. Likewise one respondent had had Linx (all other respondents had had fundolication) . He was happy with it but at just one year post op, was beginning t get reflux again.
However, if you have poor peristalsis, either linx or fundoplication will probably cause more problems, so perhaps Stretta may be worth tryng? If Axa won't pay but NHS will, why not go down NHS route?
The other promising intervention would be endostim. (Google it or find it in the www DownWithAcid org uk book. ) - but it's unlikely you'll get that paid for by insurance nor on NHS unless you can be part of a trial.
dhimi29434 Barretts
Posted
Thank you so much Barretts for your reply.i wanted to know ...... if there would be any possibility that I could get either fundoplication or linx in future should stretta not work...... its just that i am so worried that if I don't do either and my regurgitations are a daily nuisance that i will end up with something more sinister......and i so want to see my daughters grow up.is there any hope for me?thank you again
Barretts dhimi29434
Posted
Yes.
Following Stetta, it is still perfectly possible to have Linx or Fundoplication.
But it is very unlikely your Barrett's wil progress.
There are over 60 million in UK of whom 8000 will die this year of oesophageal cancer making yur chances about 1 in 8000.
We now think there could be 3 million with the precursor, Barrett's which reduces your odds to about 1 in 400 (0.025%).
Those of us who know we have Barrett's (about 150,000) are the lucky ones as we'll receive regular scopes every few years to check there are no changes. If any changes are ever found, it will be early enough to treat. It's the 2,850,000 who don't know they have the condition who may not find out until it's too late.
I've had my Barrett's at least 23 years and probably a lot longer. I am over 99% cetain you will live to see your daughters grow up (unless you get knocked down by a bus
) .
dhimi29434 Barretts
Posted
Thank you so much for the reply...... i feel relieved because u always put things in perspective and in this forum i find we can relate to each others anxiety which arises from lack of knowledge about this complex gerd and its relating issues.Thank you so much again.😊
kash97552 Barretts
Posted