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Varicose veins in your oesophagus and stomach have been treated.

The oesophagus or gullet connects the mouth with the stomach. It is a muscular tube. The muscles in the oesophagus move food into the stomach. The stomach is located in the upper left abdomen. The stomach stores food and breaks it down further. Harmful pathogens are also killed by gastric acid in the stomach. The stomach thus prepares the food for digestion in the intestines.

The blood from the oesophagus and the stomach usually flows to the liver via veins. Veins are blood vessels. With some disorders, the blood can back up in the veins before the liver. If the blood backs up in the veins before the liver, the veins in the oesophagus and stomach can become enlarged. Veins like these are called varicose veins. These varicose veins may also bleed.

Your stomach was operated on during a laparoscopy. 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.

The aim of the treatment was to cut off the blood supply to the varicose veins in your stomach or your oesophagus. The small veins in the stomach and oesophagus may be severed for this purpose, for example.