You suspect that you may have acid reflux and have made an appointment with your doctor to have an examination and hopefully be diagnosed. If the individual only has occasional indigestion or heartburn the chances are low that it is acid reflux. Most individuals experience occasional heartburn or indigestion. Persistent heartburn and persistent acid regurgitation even after taking home remedies such as antacids can be a symptom of acid reflux.
Sometimes your doctor after examining you and taking your medical history may be uncertain of the presence of acid reflux and may order a trial of a proton-pump inhibitor medication, such as Prilosec. This medication blocks the stomach acid secretion and can help identify those with acid reflux in up to 90% of cases.
After a drug trial if the doctor is still uncertain of the diagnosis of acid reflux there may be laboratory or invasive tests ordered including an endoscopy. If the individual has atypical symptoms, the doctor may suspect a complication of acid reflux such as Barrett’s esophagus. Other symptoms such as signs of bleeding or the individual experiencing difficulty in swallowing can also indicate the need for further testing.
Testing that may be ordered to help with the diagnosis of acid reflux or the complications of acid reflux are a barium-swallow radiograph, a upper endoscopy, a capsule endoscopy, PH monitor examination, and a manometry. Other miscellaneous tests that may also be ordered are blood and stool tests and a bernstein test.
The process of diagnosing acid reflux may also involve ruling out other disorders that share similar symptoms with acid reflux including dyspepsia, even angina and chest pain, asthma, gastrointestinal disease, and intestinal cancers.
The doctor may order a barium-swallow radiograph because it can identify structural abnormalities and erosion of the esophagitis, which is severe inflammation.
An upper endoscopy may be ordered because it is more accurate than a barium-swallow radiograph, but is more invasive and more expensive. It can however grade the severity of esophagitis, which is necessary for periodic monitoring of the individual if they are diagnosed with Barrett’s esophagus or if the individual is deemed to be at high risk for other complications.
A capsule endoscopy is a pill-sized camera, which was approved, by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2004. The individual swallow the pill and pictures are transmitted by a recording device and can then be downloaded and interpreted by a doctor. This capsule endoscopy can identify acid reflux and the entire procedure only takes 20 minutes. This is a far less invasive procedure than an endoscopy. If the doctor needs to gather tissue samples or remove polyps; than, an endoscopy is still required.
The PH monitor examination is used to determine if the individual is suffering from acid back-up.
A manometry is a technique that is used to measure muscular pressure and is used to see if the individual would benefit from surgery, or to see if there is impaired stomach motility or if there is impaired peristalsis or other motility problems that may be present with those who suffer the symptoms of chest pain.
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