General Surgery Blogs

Dr. Steven Williams in Boise, Idaho

15Feb

Can You Burp or Vomit After a GERD (or fundoplication) Surgery?

Dr. Steve Williams | Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) | | View Counts (153707) |Return|

Can You Burp or Vomit After a GERD (or fundoplication) Surgery?


Many surgeons will tell their patients that after a fundoplication surgery for GERD or hiatal hernia repair that they will never be able to vomit or belch again. For myself, it would scare me to think that if I had food poisoning or the stomach flu, that I could no longer be able to regurgitate.

For this reason, I have always steered to making my fundoplication wraps a bit less tight. I have found that most of my patients have excellent control of their GERD symptoms with a fundoplication wrap that still allows the majority of them to belch and vomit. Now, certainly it may be harder to do either of these things. And, I do warn my patients that it is possible that they may not be able to belch or vomit, but again, when I have asked, most patients are able to do both.

As well, patients should know that all things in our body tend to loosen (or sag) over time. We have all heard our elders complain of this from time to time in our youth. And now, maybe we are those doing the complaining. Just as other body parts, the fundoplication wrap created during the GERD surgery will slowly loosen over time. Therefore even some patients that originally could not burp or vomit will be able to do so as the wrap loosens.

This also means that over the course of 8 years or more, many post-op patients will encounter some symptoms of recurrent reflux which may require antacid medication or even stronger medicines for reflux. But, the reflux is almost never as bad as it was before the surgery.

To read more similar questions, be sure to view our GERD FAQ page here.

Related

What Is Outpatient Surgery?

What Is Outpatient Surgery?

Outpatient surgery is when the patient can leave after surgery on the same day. Outpatient surgery e...

Read More >
What Causes Hernias?

What Causes Hernias?

A hernia is an abnormal protrusion through a muscular wall. As we have previously discussed, a herni...

Read More >
Is Hernia Mesh Bad?

Is Hernia Mesh Bad?

But, mesh does have its limitations and certainly, there can be complications of hernia mesh. It is ...

Read More >
Risk Factors of GERD

Risk Factors of GERD

GERD affects 1/5 people across the United States. GERD is often informally referred to as heartburn ...

Read More >
What is a Sports Hernia?

What is a Sports Hernia?

Many surgeons who treat Sports Hernia do not agree on the exact definition, or what fits into the “...

Read More >
Don't Ignore Your Gallbladder

Don't Ignore Your Gallbladder

Emergency surgery is risky business. Once health issues reach a point of urgency, they often involve...

Read More >

Subscribe

Name

Contact Dr. Steven Williams

Boise's Best General Surgeon

  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *

Call or Contact Us Now
Practicing General Surgery in the Boise area since 2002