Aldo J Russo, MD

According to the National Institutes of Health, if you are 50 or older with reflux, hiatal hernia, esophageal hernia, twisted stomach, twisted esophagus...only surgery will fix the problem and you should do it as soon as possible if you are older... so do not rely on Gastroenterologist for treatment. Gastroenterologists do not do surgery; they will keep you coming back for years of treatments/procedures that are ultimately ineffective. If you are older, you may become too frail to withstand surgery if you wait too long. Three different gastroenterologists gave me the runaround before I researched the issue and found a surgeon on my own. Find a surgeon who does it robotically or at least laparascopically to avoid long and painful recovery period. I hope to help others avoid the ordeals I faced trying to get relief from my symptoms...don't let them con you into "stretching" your esophagus or "pushing" your stomach back into place. If you are still strong enough, you need surgery… to fix the problem. I interviewed 3 top robotic surgeons...all of whom complained that gastroenterologists delayed surgery in cases where it was needed. Dr. Russo is a very good diagnostician, but was reluctant to advise surgery, as was my first gastroenterologist. When I informed Dr. Russo I had scheduled a consultation with a surgeon outside of Oschner's who had more experience and expertise with robotic surgery than the surgeons in his group, he was peeved and short with me. He ordered the tests required by the surgeon but never saw me again (relegated me to a physician's assistant) and never followed up to inform me of the results; he did not even send my test results to the surgeon I chose. On the day of my consultation the surgeon had still not received my tests so I had to pick them up at the last minute. Be pro-active and do lots of research...Doctors frequently make mistakes.