Quality of life and gastric acid-suppression medication 20 years after laparoscopic fundoplication.

BACKGROUND

Laparoscopic fundoplication is an effective treatment for gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD). We aimed to assess quality of life (QoL), long-term residual symptoms, patient satisfaction and use of acid-suppression medication at 5, 10 and 20 years after surgery.

METHODS

We identified a cohort of 100 patients who underwent laparoscopic fundoplication between 1993 and 1998. The validated QoL questionnaires Short Form health survey (SF-36), and Quality-of-Life in Reflux and Dyspepsia (QOLRAD), as well as a specific questionnaire regarding post-fundoplication symptoms, were sent to the patients at 5, 10 and 20 years after surgery. Furthermore, patients who reported using the acid-suppression medication after 20 years were interviewed by telephone regarding their reason for taking it.

RESULTS

Eighty-eight percent of the patients responded at 5 and 10 years post-surgery. Twenty years following fundoplication, 68 (84% of those still alive) patients completed the questionnaires. The patients had equivalent health-related QoL scores in both the QOLRAD and SF-36 questionnaires after 10 and 20 years, and those scores were in line with a Swedish age-matched population. After 20 years, 87% were satisfied with the results, and 84% of the patients would recommend reflux surgery to a relative or a friend. At the telephone interview, 32% (22/68) confirmed using acid-suppression medication, but only half (11/68) used it because of reflux symptoms.

CONCLUSION

The long-term, satisfying outcomes in GERD symptoms and QoL 5 and 10 years after surgery were maintained at a 20-year follow-up. Half of the patients used acid-suppression medication for reasons other than GERD symptoms.