Acid Reflux - Diagnosis

GERD is generally not difficult to diagnose. Your symptoms, what you eat and drink, medications you are taking, and your lifestyle are usually enough to make a clear diagnosis. If the diagnosis is unclear to your doctor, one or more tests may be performed:

  • Upper endoscopy, calledesophagealgastroduodenoscopy (EGD), which involves the insertion of a tube down your throat into the esophagus to look for signs of reflux, inflammation, ulcers, or other changes in the esophagus.
  • A barium swallow, which involves visualization of the esophagus through a series of xrays following the swallowing of a substance called barium. This looks at the movement of the esophagus and whether any fluid comes back from the stomach into the esophagus.
  • Manometry measures the pressure of the sphincter muscle; if low, this is consistent with GERD.