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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    How can an endoscopy help detect heartburn?

    Related Topic
    Heartburn/GORD
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    Dr Simon Benstock

    Gastroenterologist

    Dr Simon Benstock completed his advanced training in Gastroenterology at Prince of Wales and St Vincent’s hospitals in Sydney. His major interests are colon cancer … View Profile

    Heartburn can be a symptom of GORD or gastro-oesophageal reflux disease.
    But these symptoms can be a sign of other conditions including heart disease.
    An endoscopy is useful to help diagnose reflux disease, but also to exclude potentially sinister conditions related to long term reflux such as Barrett's disease, which can lead to malignancy.
    The endoscopy is a procedure where a thin tube with a camera on the tip, is inserted into the stomach under sedation.

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    Dr Smariti Kapila

    Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) Surgeon

    She has primarily been trained in Sydney, but also across Australia, including Darwin and several outreach communities, Adelaide, Gosford, and Sydney, including St Vincent's, Royal … View Profile

    Heartburn can be a symptoms of Gastro-Oesophageal Reflux
    ie the acid comes up out of the stomach into the food pipe.  

    As an ENT Surgeon, we often also see the signs and symptoms of Laryngo-Pharyngeal Reflux
    ie acid comes up the food pipe as far as the throat region.

    It can cause symptoms such as:

    • Hoarse voice
    • Throat clearing
    • Sensation of a lump in the throat
    • Sensation of irritation in the throat
    • Choking episodes

    Endoscopy means literally ‘looking inside’, and can be performed with a special camera inserted via the mouth to the stomach, as Simon has mentioned above.  ENT Surgeons can also look at the voice box and throat region with a camera that is inserted via the nose.

    It's important to establish whether the above symptoms are due to reflux, as they can also be due to dangerous condtions such as throat cancers, which can present in a similar way.

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