Antireflux band mucosectomy (ARBM) is a novel minimally invasive endoscopic intervention for the successful treatment of refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), according to the findings of a recent study. Ameya Deshmukh et al. aimed to determine the effect of ARBM in people diagnosed with GERD.

Four people with GERD refractory to medical treatment underwent ARBM. Overall, 3 patients were suffering from non-erosive esophagitis and one patient had erosive esophagitis. Two patients were having hiatal hernias ≤2 cm. All the patients underwent preprocedure and postprocedure pH bravo testing along with follow-up esophagogastroduodenoscopy.

The completion of all the cases was successful. A reduction in acid exposure time and DeMeester score was witnessed in all the patients. The span of the procedure time was found to be 6-15 minutes. No side effects were observed. By 4 weeks postprocedure, proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy was discontinued in all the patients.

A total of 4 patients with refractory GERD who refused surgery successfully underwent ARBM. Substantial reduction to complete resolution of symptoms was experienced by all the patients.  By 4 weeks postprocedure, all the patients were taken off PPIs. Hence, ARBM only uses band ligation and exhibits remarkable potential to be a  faster, safer, and less technically challenging substitute when compared to other surgical and endoscopic interventions.