New York Local News

NEW YORK (CBS) ― If you ever get a burning sensation in your chest or wake up during the night with an acidic taste in your mouth, you may have acid reflux. 

Sixty million Americans suffer from the condition, and some may even need surgery – but there may be a brand new way to stop the burn.

When acid reflux becomes severe, it's usually referred to as gastro-esophogeal reflux disease, or GERD for short. One reason doctors take it seriously is that chronic acid reflux can cause changes in the lining of the food tube, or esophagus, that can become cancerous.

When medications stop working, there can be a much easier surgical alternative.

"It started off with burning in my chest, heartburn, as people call it," Ron Peckholdt, who suffers from acid reflux, said.

Peckholdt has been taking several medications for his acid reflux, and has given up fatty foods, spicy foods, tomatoes, and red wine – but he's still miserable.

"It recently got so bad that I couldn't sleep laying down, I had to sleep sitting up. It was always in my chest," Peckholdt said. "Your breath stinks, it's a constant burning, [and] you can't eat food late at night because it seems to bother you even more."

That's what finally led Peckholdt to take the next step: surgery. The procedure recreates what should essentially be a one-way valve between the esophagus and the stomach, to keep stomach acid in the stomach where it belongs.

Asthma, bad esophagitis, or irritations and ulcers in the esophagus – those are patients who should look into further treatments and some kind of surgical procedure," Dr. Shawn Garber, of Mercy Medical Center, said.

The trouble was that the surgery used to be a pretty serious operation, even when it was done through a laparoscope. But now there's a much easier way.

"[Now the surgery is] a transoral procedure which we do completely through the mouth, with absolutely no incisions," Garber said.

That's right: the surgery is done entirely through the mouth, and here's how it works.

A sophisticated device is passed down the esophagus, along with an endoscope that allows doctors to see what they're doing.

By manipulating various attachments, surgeons grab a fold of the stomach and pull it down from the inside. Then they pass a plastic surgical clip through the stomach fold, essentially creating a cuff around the bottom of the esophagus that functions as a new valve.

Recovery for the surgery is very brief, yet another benefit.

"Patients are usually in the hospital for about 23 or 24 hours, and then they go home," Dr. Spence Holover, also from Mercy Medical Center, said.

Better yet, about 85% of patients are able to cease taking their acid blocking medications.

Peckholdt is hoping for a few other benefits as well.

"I'm looking forward to being able to sleep laying down rather than sitting up, and after that hopefully I can get back to eating and having a normal life," Peckholdt said.

The only restriction Peckholdt will have is a special, soft diet for about a month after surgery to let the stomach heal. After that, he can go back to eating most anything he wants.

In European trials, the down-the-throat approach has lasted as long as the same operation done with incisions. While the surgery is not for everyone, if drugs and dietary changes haven't worked, it's certainly an option.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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