Esophageal Diseases Specialist

Mission Surgical Clinic

General and Vascular Surgery located in Riverside, CA, Redlands, CA, Barstow, CA & Corona, CA

Esophageal diseases can cause chronic acid reflux, trouble swallowing, and other symptoms that affect your quality of life. At Mission Surgical Clinic, the experienced surgical team has extensive experience doing minimally invasive esophageal surgery. The surgeons treat hiatal hernias, acid reflux, and esophageal cancer to protect your health and provide long-lasting relief from your symptoms. Learn more about the surgeries available for esophageal diseases. Call the office in Riverside, Eastvale, Corona, San Bernardino, Barstow or Redlands, California, to schedule an appointment or book a consultation online today.

Esophageal Diseases Q&A

What are esophageal diseases?

Esophageal diseases affect the health and function of your esophagus, the tube in your upper digestive system. This tube moves food and drink from your throat into your stomach.

Several diseases affect your esophagus. The Mission Surgical Clinic team most commonly treats:

Gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD)

GERD develops when the lower esophageal sphincter fails to close correctly. This allows acids from your stomach to flow up into your esophagus, causing heartburn, throat pain, and damage to your esophageal lining. It can cause a persistent cough as well.

Hiatal hernia

A hiatal hernia occurs when the upper part of your stomach protrudes through a weak spot in your diaphragm. Without treatment, a hiatal hernia can cause acid reflux and increase your risk of developing GERD.

Barrett’s esophagus

Barrett's esophagus develops in people with GERD. The persistent backflow of stomach acids changes the cells in the lining of your esophagus, increasing your risk of developing esophageal cancer.

Esophageal cancer

Two kinds of cancer can affect the esophagus. Squamous cell carcinomas develop from smoking, human papillomavirus (HPV) infections, and radiation therapy.

Adenocarcinoma develops from smoking and chronic acid reflux.

What are the symptoms of esophageal diseases?

Esophageal diseases cause a wide range of symptoms, depending on the condition you have. These symptoms can include:

Chest pain
Heartburn
Hoarseness
Wheezing
Chronic cough
Persistent sore throat

Because these symptoms can point to many other conditions, you must schedule a diagnostic evaluation at Mission Surgical Clinic right away.

Untreated esophageal diseases and cancer gradually get worse, causing serious and potentially life-threatening complications.

How does surgery treat esophageal diseases?

If your esophageal disease isn’t treatable with medications, lifestyle changes, and other nonsurgical therapies, you might need surgery.

The Mission Surgical Clinic team offers surgery to treat damaged or diseased esophageal tissue. Depending on your diagnosis, you’ll need:

Laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery (Nissen fundoplication)

Laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery is a minimally invasive procedure to repair weak esophageal sphincter muscles and prevent stomach acids from flowing back into your esophagus.

The surgical team also uses this surgery to repair weak spots in your diaphragm to treat a hiatal hernia.

Endoscopic dilation

Endoscopic dilation is a minimally invasive procedure to widen a narrowed esophagus or relax the sphincter muscles so that you can breathe and swallow easier.

Esophagectomy

Esophagectomy is surgery to remove a part of or all diseased esophageal tissue to treat the damage done by acid reflux or esophageal cancer.

To find out if you’re a candidate for surgery to treat esophageal diseases, call the Mission Surgical Clinic office nearest you or book a consultation online today.

What we offer