The Hill or the Nissen

I've spoken with Dr. Aye with the Swedish Medical Center and after he reviewed my 48 hour ph test and esophageal manometry test he determined that I am a good candidate for the Hill surgery for my GERD. From my other posts listed in my profile I've described my roller coaster time of dealing with GERD for those of you'll that are interested in reading. Right now I'm just that much closer to finally taking the plunge and having a surgery to help with my problems.

I'm leaning towards the Hill but due appreciate the large amount of Nissens done in comparisons to the Hill.

My concern is that due to my young age (29) and because I'm a fairly physical person at home and at work that in the future I may need a repair on the initial surgery. For the ones that know the Hill is not as common as the Nissen and that is what is causing my concern. Without the large pool of qualified surgeons to work on the Hill wouldn't that possibly lead to future problems for me? The surgeon that would probably perform my Nissen if I choose to go that route said he has never meet anyone that has performed or have had done a Hill and he wouldn't be willing to touch it in the future.

As always I greatly appreciate everyones time and assistance.

Here's an article describing the various types of surgeries http://www.nature.com/gimo/contents/pt1/full/gimo56.html

I chose to believe in my surgeon and allow him to do the type of surgery best suited for my condition and which had the best record of positive outcome at that time.

In my case the best for me was a Toupet repair (see the article), which is not a complete 360 wrap. I had and still have a weak swallow and would not have been able to push food past a full wrap. I also had a giant paraesophageal hiatal hernia, so that meant a longer surgery than most.

4 years later I am still very satisfied with the result and with my choice of surgeons (a group effort for my case).