Mayo Study: Implantable Ring Controls Chronic Acid Reflux
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Mayo Clinic study finds that an implant can control acid reflux.
It's shaped like a bracelet and it's placed around the valve at the junction of the stomach and esophagus.
More than 90 percent of the patients tested said it eased their heartburn-like symptoms and most were able to stop using antacids.
Mayo surgeon Dr. Daniel Smith says it's the first new, safe and effective treatment for chronic reflux in 20 years -- and it's so simple.
"It was like when you look at a paper clip and you say, 'Gosh, that's so easy -- why didn't I think of that?'" Smith said.
One in three people in the U.S. are believed to have chronic acid reflux, a condition that can lead to serious health problems.
The study appears in the online version of the New England Journal of Medicine.
