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You have had an operation on the passage between your oesophagus and your stomach. The operation involved wrapping part of your stomach around your oesophagus. A part of your diaphragm was also stitched.

The oesophagus is usually closed by a sphincter muscle at the junction to the stomach. This is meant to prevent the stomach contents and gastric acid being regurgitated into the oesophagus. Only during swallowing does the oesophagus briefly open its sphincter muscle to the stomach.

To support the oesophageal sphincter, part of the stomach can be wrapped around the lower part of the oesophagus. This involves wrapping this piece around the oesophagus like a collar, and stitching in place there.

The stomach normally lies below the diaphragm in the abdomen. The diaphragm separates the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity. The oesophagus runs through the diaphragm. At that point there is a hole in the diaphragm. You have had this hole made smaller by stitching. The aim of this type of operation is to prevent parts of the stomach from moving upwards through the diaphragm into the chest cavity.

A laparoscopy was first carried out so that your stomach could be operated on. A laparoscopy first involves making a small incision in the abdomen. A tube with a camera is pushed through this incision into the abdomen. This camera sends pictures of the inside of the abdomen to a screen. Tools such as forceps and scissors can be inserted through other small incisions in the abdomen.

Then your abdomen was opened for the operation by making a large incision through your skin.