What Exactly is What is Impedance Manometry and a Bravo pH Study?
The Bravo pH test is commonly used to help confirm the diagnosis of acid flux or to identify the cause of various symptoms such as heartburn, chest pain, chronic cough, asthma, and other throat symptoms.
In patients with symptomatic GERD, manometry of the esophageal body can identify a mechanically defective (lower esophageal sphincter) LES and evaluate the adequacy of esophageal peristalsis and contraction amplitude.
Esophageal Manometry Studies have become an essential tool in the preoperative evaluation of patients before antireflux surgery, guiding selection of the appropriate procedure based upon the patient’s underlying esophageal function and excluding patients with achalasia who can be misdiagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux when clinical and endoscopic parameters alone are used for diagnosis.
How Is the Bravo pH Test Performed?
Your doctor will place a capsule on the wall of the esophagus. Â
The Bravo pH Capsule (Medtronics, Minneapolis, MN) measures pH levels in the esophagus and transmits continuous esophageal pH readings to a receiver worn on the patient’s belt or waistband.
Symptoms that the patient experiences are recorded in a diary and/or by pressing buttons on the receiver unit.
Generally, 48 hours of pH data are measured with this probe.
The capsule eventually detaches and passes through the digestive tract in 5 to 7 days.
Esophageal manometry
Esophageal manometry measures muscle contractions in your esophagus. The doctor may order this procedure if you’re thinking about anti-reflux surgery.
EMS is performed using electronic, pressure-sensitive transducers located within the catheter, or water-perfused catheters with lateral side holes attached to transducers outside the body.
Traditionally, the water perfused catheter has largely been replaced by high resolution motility (HRM).
Esophageal pH and impedance monitoring
The most accurate procedure to detect acid reflux is esophageal pH & impedance monitoring!