WEDNESDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Endoscopic gastroplication reduced symptoms and proton pump inhibitor use in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, according to the results of a study published in the January issue of Gut.
M.P. Schwartz, M.D., from the University Medical Centre in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and colleagues conducted a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial of endoscopic gastroplication in 60 patients with GERD to evaluate the effects of the procedure on proton pump inhibitor use and GERD symptoms.
At three months, more patients who had cut their drug use by at least half were found in the treatment group (65 percent) compared with the sham (25 percent) and observation-only (0 percent) groups. Endoscopic gastroplication-treated patients also reported fewer symptoms, and both drug use and symptom changes were sustained at six and 12 months.
Esophageal acid exposure was not significantly different, however, and the authors caution that "widespread use of the endoscopic suturing device should probably be avoided until the technique is improved and efficacy on objective end points has been proved in a sham-controlled fashion."
One of the authors was supported by a grant from Janssen-Cilag pharmaceuticals.
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