Achalasia News and Research

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Smart capsules: the future of gut health diagnosis and monitoring?

Researchers discussed using smart and robotic capsules for sampling and sensing the gut.

26 Sep 2023

Researchers highlight when antireflux surgery is needed to treat GERD after endoscopy

Researchers report a growing awareness of gastroesophageal reflux problems among patients who undergo endoscopic, nonsurgical treatment for esophageal achalasia, frequently requiring future surgical intervention.

8 Apr 2020

Pain management program uses new approach to reduce narcotic prescriptions after surgery

Surgeons at Houston Methodist Hospital are stemming the tide of addiction to prescription opioids by managing patients' pain after surgery.

22 Jan 2020

Johns Hopkins study shows that healthy adult gut loses and regenerates nerve cells

Johns Hopkins researchers today published new evidence refuting the long-held scientific belief that the gut nerve cells we're born with are the same ones we die with.

19 Apr 2017

Newly identified molecular pathway could lead to new treatments for reflux, incontinence disorders

Researchers at UMass Medical School have identified a new molecular pathway critical for maintaining the smooth muscle tone that allows the passage of materials through the digestive system.

25 Apr 2016

Researchers confirm for the first time that achalasia is autoimmune in origin

Achalasia is a rare disease - it affects 1 in 100,000 people - characterized by a loss of nerve cells in the esophageal wall.

29 Jul 2014

New minimally-invasive procedure to treat jackhammer esophagus

Six weeks ago 67-year old John Galbreath welcomed death, rather than live one more day. Intense pain in his chest had left him nearly bedridden for four months. Galbreath had a condition called jackhammer esophagus, which made him feel like the name suggests—like a jackhammer was going off in his chest.

4 Mar 2014

New treatment guidelines on diagnosis and management of achalasia

New treatment guidelines on the diagnosis and management of achalasia, a primary motor disorder of the esophagus, appear in the August issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology.

24 Jul 2013

Osteoporosis medication Aclasta now available on Canadian public drug plans

Osteoporosis Canada congratulates the Ontario government, the New Brunswick government, the Saskatchewan government and the British Columbia government for providing access to a new osteoporosis medication. Aclasta (zoledronic acid) is now available on public and private drug plans in Ontario, BC, SK, and NB meaning Canadians at high risk for fractures have access to increased treatment options.

23 Nov 2012

Advances in endoscopic technologies and techniques to be highlighted at ACG annual meeting

Advances in endoscopic technologies and techniques will be highlighted in clinical research presented at the 77th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in Las Vegas, NV.

23 Oct 2012

UH Case Medical Center offers per-oral endoscopic myotomy for achalasia

University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center is one of five institutions nationwide performing a novel scarless procedure that restores swallowing function in some patients with achalasia, a rare condition where the esophagus is unable to move food into the stomach.

25 Sep 2012

UC San Diego surgeon removes diseased gallbladder through belly button

On Tuesday, December 20th, Santiago Horgan, MD, chief of minimally invasive surgery at UC San Diego Health System was the first surgeon in the United States to remove a diseased gallbladder through a patient's belly button with the aid of a new FDA-approved da Vinci Si Surgical System.

23 Dec 2011

PerOral Endoscopic Myotomy holds promise for patients with esophageal achalasia

Jorge Sobenes is a husband and father who loves to cook for his family. In a nine month period however, he went from enjoying his favorite foods to not being able to eat or drink due to a tightening in his throat and difficulty swallowing. He lost 40 pounds and was desperate for answers. Sobenes was diagnosed with achalasia, a condition where the esophagus is unable to move food into the stomach, and was told he would need surgery. Historically, the procedure requires several incisions in the abdomen in order to access the blocked esophageal pathway.

24 Aug 2011

Surgeons perform nation's first incision-free myotomy procedure to treat achalasia

Surgeons at UC San Diego Medical Center have performed the nation's first incision-free myotomy, a procedure to treat achalasia, a distressing disorder which causes difficulty swallowing, regurgitation and chest pain. The innovative surgery, performed through the mouth, is the most recent in a series of groundbreaking clinical trial surgeries being evaluated by the UCSD Center for the Future of Surgery.

26 Feb 2010

Boy with rare swallowing disorder has robotic surgery at UIC

Surgeons at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago performed robotic-assisted surgery on a 12-year-old Chicago boy with a rare swallowing disorder called achalasia.

24 Jan 2006