Quality of Life Assessment after Laparoscopic Nissen Rossetti Fundoplication – A Prospective Study

Category: Upper Gastrointestinal

Aims: Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) is a common disorder in the Western world and currently antireflux surgery is an established treatment. This study aims at evaluating the postoperative results and compare pre- and postoperative quality of life with laparoscopic Nissen-Rossetti fundoplication (LNRF).

Methods: Thirty eight consecutive patients who underwent LNRF by a single surgeon over 4 year period were surveyed pre and post operatively (at 3, 6 months and 1 year) using a validated Quality of Life (QOL) questionnaire (Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale containing 18 symptom scores). All patients had oesophageal manometry, pH studies (in selected) and endoscopy preoperatively.

Results: The median follow up period was 22 months (range, 3 months- 48 months). The median pre-op and post-op scores were 11 (range, 5–16) and 4 (range, 0–15) respectively with statistically significant improvement (P < .001). All patients were totally relieved of heartburn and two (5.3%) patients underwent endoscopic dilatation for persistent postoperative dysphagia. Thirty seven (97.3%) patients rated the LNRF as good to excellent with satisfactory relief of symptoms from GORD and would recommend the operation.

Conclusions: Patient satisfaction seems mainly to depend on disappearance of specific clinical symptoms of GORD. Quality of life significantly improves following LNRF.