It’s a huge relief for patients of Jackson surgeon Steven Patterson, MD, to finally be free from having to take daily pills to control their reflux disease.

What’s even better is that they can come out of surgery without so much as a scar.

Since his group began offering Transoral Incisionless Fundoplication (TIF) a couple of years ago, Patterson along with partner Pat Scanlon Jr., MD, have performed 50 of the procedures so far. The pace is picking up.

“Reflux is one of the most common problems today,” Patterson said. “Some people end up taking three or four medications a day for reflux, which is really ridiculous. And most of the time, once you get on standard reflux medications, it will be a lifelong thing.”

Additionally, he said, even a patient for whom medications neutralize the acid can still suffer from reflux, since the one-way valve between the esophagus and stomach has become incompetent.

As an alternative to taking pills for life, or when the medications simply aren’t effective enough, the TIF procedure is a new strategy for repairing the valve between the esophagus and stomach.

Rather than making even a small incision to correct the problem laparoscopically, Patterson is able to insert a scope through the mouth along with the EsophyX device from EndoGastroc Solutions. Under direct visualization, he places sutures between the stomach and esophagus to achieve the same effect as with a laparoscopic or open-surgery procedure. Patients are still put under anesthesia for the duration of the procedure.

For patients, the TIF procedure means a shorter hospital stay, reduced discomfort, quicker recovery and no visible scars. They also can avoid adverse effects of long-term use of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) medications, including the inadequate absorption of calcium and other minerals into the bones.

While it’s still a new procedure, three-year data has shown an 80-percent effectiveness in reflux patients being able to quit taking pills to control the disease, Patterson said.

“The procedure is based on proven surgical principles,” he said. “That’s why we’re so excited about this.”

Patterson, a Clinton native, practices as part of the eight-member group Lakeland Surgical Clinic, which was founded in 1978. He maintains three half-day clinics and operates five days a week. His schedule is divided among three different hospitals — Baptist Medical Center, St. Dominic Hospital and River Oaks Hospital and Woman’s Hospital.

“It’s exciting, because each hospital has its own culture and identity, and the nice thing is they’re all right here,” he said. “At each place, I have my own team that knows our techniques and our preferences.”

Patterson has served as chief of staff, chief of surgery and chief of trauma at River Oaks, and as chief of general surgery at St. Dominic. As part of moving among different surgical settings, he tends to schedule certain procedures more often at one hospital, and other procedures at another.

“Some may do a little better with breast care or robotic surgery or laparoscopic procedures,” he said, “so knowing where the strengths of each hospital fall allows me to best utilize them.”

In addition to surgery to correct the problem that causes reflux disease, Patterson’s surgical practice ranges from laparoscopic colon surgery and hernia repairs to the removal of the gallbladder and appendix.

Patterson came to Lakeland Surgical Clinic in 1999, straight from his general-surgery residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He also attended medical school at UMMC, and in between completed a general-surgery internship at what is now Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. He holds an undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.

His honors during his training included the Association of Academic Surgery Research Award, the F.A. Hunt Scholarship and the Lange Medical Publication Award. Today he is a diplomat of the American Board of Surgery and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Patterson’s path into the medical field was paved by his father, W.J. Patterson. A family-practice physician in Clinton, he retired last fall after some 40 years of practice.

“I learned a lot from him — just seeing him deal with patients and observing his ability to make people better,” Patterson said. “After watching him, I still believe in the ‘art’ of medicine, even with technology today.”

His younger brother, Scott, also followed in their father’s footsteps — albeit in a more roundabout route that took him through a career as a building contractor and later as a nurse before heading to medical school. Scott Patterson, DO, has also joined Lakeland Surgical Clinic.

During his own training, Steven Patterson was able to take part in surgery’s evolution from traditional to laparoscopic procedures. Laparoscopic gallbladder removals began in the early 1990s, followed by appendix removals in the late 1990s and reflux surgery in the early 2000s. The most recent decade has seen the introduction of incisionless surgeries like the TIF procedure, he said.

“The difference is amazing,” he said. “If you do the TIF procedure, the patient is back working in one or two days, whereas with laparoscopic surgery it would be a week.”

More and more, Patterson finds that his patients have come to expect swifter recovery times after surgery, having heard from friends and family members who have undergone minimally invasive operations.

“Technology and patient demand continue to push my general-surgery practice to the forefront of minimally invasive surgery,” he said.

Outside of the clinic and operating room, Patterson focuses on his family — including wife Cindy and children Taylor, 17, Reid, 15, Hunter 13 and Walker James, 9. He has coached youth sports from soccer to football, and when he has time enjoys swimming, biking, running and competing in triathlons.

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