Endoscopic Full Thickness Plication (GERD-X) for the Treatment of PPI Dependent GERD:

Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common gastrointestinal disorder with a significant proportion of patients becoming dependent on proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy. Long term use of PPI therapy can be associated with side effects such as osteoporosis, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and renal failure. Moreover, some of the patients might be reluctant to take PPIs for long duration and prefer surgery over pharmacotherapy. Endoscopic plication (GERD-X) is an alternative and less invasive procedure compared to laparoscopic fundoplication for the treatment of GERD. In endoscopic plication, transmural sutures are applied at the gastro-esophageal (GE) junction thereby reconstructing the gastric cardia and accentuating the valvular mechanism to prevent reflux. Only few trials have evaluated the efficacy of endoscopic plication technique and reported encouraging results. In this study we aim to evaluate the efficacy of a similar endoscopic technique but with application of two transmural sutures in randomized controlled method.