Esophageal Disorders Program

Caring for GERD and More

Patients nationwide seek care from our Esophageal and Stomach Disorders Program, one of the largest of its kind in the country. Our specialists have renowned medical and surgical expertise, in addition to access to the most advanced equipment, technology and research available. This unique combination positions the program to continue its long tradition of pioneering state-of-the-art care, from diagnosis to recovery.

We are changing the medical paradigm of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) treatment, a condition that afflicts nearly 20 percent of the population. Most patients rely on medical management for relief, but for those with persistent heartburn and regurgitation, the LINX Reflux Management System effectively stops the symptoms. LINX, a device laparoscopically placed around the lower end of the esophagus, was largely developed at Keck Medicine of USC. We are home to the nation’s largest LINX program and clinical trial protocols were determined here.

Damage from severe GERD can lead to Barrett’s esophagus, often a precancerous condition. However, Barrett’s esophagus with high-grade dysplasia, an early form of cancer, is treated by endoscopic ablation and resection, procedures largely pioneered here, which preserve the esophagus and eliminate the need for additional extensive surgery.

The Esophageal and Stomach Disorders Program is one of the nation’s leading providers of care for gastroparesis, a motility condition that interferes with the stomach’s ability to pass food into the small intestine. Afflicting up to two percent of the population and inexplicably rising, complications include chronic nausea, vomiting, development of bezoars, and for those with diabetes, difficulty managing blood sugar levels. When medical management is insufficient, gastric electrical stimulation (GES) prompted by a gastric pacemaker implanted subcutaneously in the abdomen can trigger normal motility and subdue symptoms. Keck Medicine of USC has the highest volume of gastric pacemaking implantation in California.