For more than 20 years, Kelley Morisette couldn't eat without feeling the pain and discomfort of heartburn and acid reflux.
"A lot of times like as I was eating, not even half way through a meal, the food would start coming back up," said patient Kelley Morisette.
Once she found out she has gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD, she changed her diet and turned to medications.
Morisette said, "They didn't work and i was taking maximum strength of all the different drugs."
So she turned to doctor at Keck Medical Center of USC who were testing an experimental device.
The small band of magnetic beads is surgically implanted and is placed around the valve at the end of the esophagus to keep stomach acid from getting in.
"The force of those magnetic beads coming together puts increased force on that weak valve which helps keep it closed to prevent the reflux," said Dr. John Lipham of Keck Medical Center of USC.
The surgery takes about 15 minutes.
Doctors put the patient under general anesthesia before making five small incisions to insert the device.
Lipham said, "Most of the pain is gone within a few days after the surgery. Patients seem to get back on to a regular diet quicker than they did with conventional surgery."
Doctor John Lipham says his patients haven't had any major complications with the device.
They may have some difficulty swallowing at first but that doesn't last long.
It's been two years since Kelley had the implant.
Morisette said, "I don't take any medicine, I can eat anything in the world I want, I mean anything."
The FDA doesn't have to follow the advice of the advisory panel but usually does.
"A lot of times like as I was eating, not even half way through a meal, the food would start coming back up," said patient Kelley Morisette.
Once she found out she has gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD, she changed her diet and turned to medications.
Morisette said, "They didn't work and i was taking maximum strength of all the different drugs."
So she turned to doctor at Keck Medical Center of USC who were testing an experimental device.
The small band of magnetic beads is surgically implanted and is placed around the valve at the end of the esophagus to keep stomach acid from getting in.
"The force of those magnetic beads coming together puts increased force on that weak valve which helps keep it closed to prevent the reflux," said Dr. John Lipham of Keck Medical Center of USC.
The surgery takes about 15 minutes.
Doctors put the patient under general anesthesia before making five small incisions to insert the device.
Lipham said, "Most of the pain is gone within a few days after the surgery. Patients seem to get back on to a regular diet quicker than they did with conventional surgery."
Doctor John Lipham says his patients haven't had any major complications with the device.
They may have some difficulty swallowing at first but that doesn't last long.
It's been two years since Kelley had the implant.
Morisette said, "I don't take any medicine, I can eat anything in the world I want, I mean anything."
The FDA doesn't have to follow the advice of the advisory panel but usually does.
