Mechanism for the Association Between Obesity and GERD

Pressure derangements at the EGJ, which are associated with obesity, augment reflux.

Patients often present with both obesity and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and we assume that obesity increases risk for GERD. However, this relation could be confounded by many variables, including dietary and lifestyle factors, and the biologic mechanism remains unknown. In this study, researchers in Illinois focused on a mechanistic hypothesis to explain how obesity can facilitate GERD.

The investigators gathered manometric profiles (created with high-resolution manometry that employed a solid-state assembly with 36 circumferential sensors, spaced at 1-cm intervals) for 285 consecutive patients (mean age, 51) without previous gastric surgery, achalasia, or mechanical obstruction of the esophagogastric junction (EGJ). Simultaneou…

Reviewing Author

David A. Johnson, MD