Minimally invasive surgical techniques for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Open antireflux surgery produces good long-term control of disease, but new interest in the surgical management of gastroesophageal reflux disease has been stimulated by the introduction of minimally invasive techniques to perform standard antireflux procedures. In the past some scepticism existed among gastroenterologists who quoted the poor surgical results they had seen. These bad results, however, were largely due to inappropriate surgery in poorly worked-up patients or antireflux surgery performed by inexperienced surgeons. Since the introduction of minimally invasive surgery for gastroesophageal reflux disease, excellent results have been reported with over 5 years of follow-up. The most common and successfully used laparoscopically antireflux procedures are reviewed and results analyzed.