Memorial offering new procedure to treat heartburn

Memorial Health System is now offering a new approach to treating chronic heartburn.

The treatment comes in the form of a magnetic band called the Linx Reflux Management System. The quarter-sized band is surgically wrapped around a weakened lower esophageal sphincter in a minimally invasive procedure that typically lasts less than an hour.

Rather than stop the production of acid, the magnetic device prevents acid from rising up from the stomach by opening and closing before and after a patient swallows food, just as a healthy lower esophageal sphincter would.

Five years after the procedure, 88 percent of patients reported that their bothersome heartburn was completely gone. General Surgeon Scott Blackburn said, “Memorial said we want to start doing this for our patients. It gives them another option besides the old traditional surgeries. It gives them an option to get off medicine and it’s important because acid reflux untreated overtime, it can damage the lower esophagus and actually that damage is a precursor to esophageal cancer.”

A referral for this procedure is needed from a provider. To learn more, call Memorial General Surgery at 228-575-1200.