Hiatal hernia surgery or not?

[John_33_2008]

Hi.

I´m posting this questions here ´cause I just read a thread about hiatal hernias.  I hope I´m writing this at the right post, and I hope a doctor answers, if possible.  Anyone who wanna help is also welcome, thanks.

I have a diagnosed hiatal hernia by endoscopy.  I have acid reflux, post nasal drip, throat clearing, throat burning, difficulty swallowing, neck and upper back pain.  Difficulty getting a full breath.  I feel sometimes my throat is closing, as if I was being strangled.  All gastroenterologists I saw before prescribed me medication for acid reflux (Nexium) for months.  I feel it´s not helping much.  When I came back to them talking to them about surgery they said that if medication is not helping I´m not a good candidate for surgery.  This doesn´t make sense to me.  Does anyboody know anything about this?  I mean I´m not a doctor, but if medication is not helping, shouldn´t this make a candidate for surgery, specially because of all my pain and breathing symptoms?  So, I changed doctor and this new one ordered me a manometry and PH levels exams of my esophagus.  I already have an endoscopicly diagnosed hiatal hernia.  Isn´t this an indicator for acid reflux?  He also tells me if Nexium isn´t helping surgery won´t either.  He says for 10% of patients surgery doesn´t work.  How do they know if I´m gonna be the 10% or not?  How do I know?  Do I have to get X-Rays of my hiatal hernia to see what kind it is and/or how big it is so they know I´m a good candidate for surgery?  What are the risks of the surgery?  Does the kind of hiatal hernia you have determine the procedure of the surgery, or do they always do the Neilsen Fundoplication?  I also have sleep apnea, which I think the hiatal hernia is making worse and I could gat better from this after surgery.  Aren´t all these symptoms enough reasons to get surgery?  I read on a website that surgery isn´t the best treatment option, but a chiropractor fixing the hiatal hernia is.  Is this true?  Can hiatal hernia surgery be bad for you and even make it worse, making the symptoms come back later on?  My new doctor tells me laparoscopy made the procedure better and that before that the surgery had a bad reputation because it wasn´t as good as it is now.  Is this true?  I know this is a lot of questions, I´d highly appreciate any help.  Thanks.

John.


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