Barrx™ in Illinois

We'll ask you to arrive at the endoscopy center about an hour prior to your procedure. This gives us time to get you checked in, have you change into a medical gown, and perform any necessary pre-procedure tasks. We ask that you do not wear contacts or lotion on your chest or arms. Once we take you to your treatment room, we will attach you to the equipment that will monitor your heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure during your procedure. Once you are comfortable on the procedure table, we will administer IV sedation.

Once you've fallen asleep, we will insert the endoscope through your mouth and snake it down to your esophagus. For larger areas of Barrett's esophagus, we may use a balloon-mounted catheter to perform the treatment. The radiofrequency energy will remove a small layer of the diseased tissue. In fact, about one second of energy removes about one millimeter of tissue. This equation and the ability to regulate the amount of heat released allows us to carefully control the amount of diseased tissue that we are able to remove, which provides a lower rate of complication than other ablation treatments. The Barrx procedure typically lasts between 30 – 60 minutes.

After your procedure, we will take you to a recovery area where a member of our team will be with you while you wake up from sedation. After post-op screenings, you will be released to leave with a responsible driver.

Before you're released, we will go over at-home care instructions to ensure you heal properly. It's important to follow the instructions we give you, which include:

• No alcohol for 24 hours after your procedure.
• Drink liquids and eat soft foods (mashed potatoes, oatmeal, eggs, ice cream, yogurt), as tolerated, for the 2 days following your procedure.

After your procedure, you may experience some symptoms, such as

• Sore throat
• Chest discomfort
• Trouble or pain with swallowing
• Nausea (feeling like you might throw up)
• Vomiting (throwing up)

While these symptoms should get better each day, feel free to reach out to our Illinois location if you need help managing them. If you take blood thinners or diabetic medications, we will let you know when it's safe to begin taking those again.

We will schedule a follow-up appointment for about 2 – 3 months after your Barrx treatment. At this appointment, we'll check your overall healing progress as well as check for any additional Barrett's esophagus tissues that were not eliminated during your procedure. If necessary, additional treatments may be suggested.