RESUMO
AIM: The advent of laparoscopic surgery produced a new interest in the surgical treatment of many benign and functional gastrointestinal diseases; one of the most commonly treated is the gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). In this paper the Authors report their 15 years experience in the laparoscopic surgical management of GERD. METHODS: From October 1991 to June 2005, 581 patients with GERD were treated by a laparoscopic fundoplication with a 360 degrees wrap (524 cases) or with a 270 degrees wrap (29 cases) or with a Collis gastroplasty (28 cases). RESULTS: The absence of intraoperative mortality, a low conversion to open surgery (0.7%) and a low postoperative morbidity (2.4%) with good clinical and instrumental long term results let the Authors to think that GERD represent an ideal indication for laparoscopic surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Good results are possible in the laparoscopic management of GERD with a precise selection of patients and with a good open and laparoscopic surgical experience in the management of functional esophageal diseases.
