Introduction: Gastroesphageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common condition in the general population, affecting patients' quality of life and predisposing to Barrett's esophagus and its most fearsome complication, esophageal adenocarcinoma. The aim of this study is to compare objective and subjective outcomes of laparoscopic Nissen-Rossetti fundoplication after 2 years of follow-up.
Subjects and methods: Seventy-six GERD patients underwent laparoscopic Nissen-Rossetti fundoplication. Patients were subjected to close follow-up.
Results: The DeMeester and Johnson score average decreased from a mean preoperative value of 35.48 (SD±40.24) to 9.83 (SD±6.40) at 6 months; at 12 months it was 11.44 (SD±10.28), and at 24 months it was 10.25 (SD±5.61). GERD Health-Related Quality of Life decreased from a preoperative value of 23.04 (SD±11.59) to 9.84 (SD±8.98) at 6 months, 8.34 (SD±8.98) at 12 months, and 6.8 (SD±6.46) at 24 months. The Short Form-36 measurement showed significant improvement.
Conclusions: GERD patients need adequate reflux control. Successful antireflux surgery is more effective than medical therapy in preventing both acid and bile reflux. Surgical therapy is effective in terms of reflux control and improvement in quality of life. Strict and rigorous follow-up with both subjective and objective tests is important in order to identify asymptomatic recurrence of reflux after surgery.