Endoscopic cardiac mucosal ligation: a novel minimally invasive procedure for gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Background: Our objective in this study was to evaluate the short-term clinical efficacy and safety of endoscopic cardiac mucosal ligation, a novel endoscopic procedure, in the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
Methods: Patients diagnosed with refractory GERD or recurrent patients due to drug withdrawal admitted to our hospital were recruited in this clinical trial. All GERD patients were treated with endoscopic cardiac mucosal ligation. Postoperatively, all patients received subsequent follow-ups for approximately four months to evaluate the efficacy and safety of this endoscopic procedure.
Results: A total of 13 GERD patients were enrolled. Endoscopic cardiac mucosal ligation was successfully performed in all cases. Postoperatively, relevant symptoms were significantly alleviated in 10 patients (76.9%). The average Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Questionnaire (GERD-Q) score in all participants significantly decreased from preoperative 10.0 ± 3.5 to postoperative 7.8 ± 2.9 ( p  = .022). The average GERD symptom questionnaire score was 27.0 ± 12.0 prior to surgery, which significantly decreased to 18.3 ± 7.5 postoperatively ( p  = .032). No severe postoperative complications were observed during subsequent follow-ups.
Conclusions: Endoscopic cardiac mucosal ligation might be a novel effective and safe endoscopic procedure for GERD.