Relationship of hiatal hernia to endoscopically proved reflux esophagitis

Abstract

The relationship between reflux esophagitis and hiatal hernia was studied using fiberoptic endoscopy. Of 293 patients having upper-gastrointestinal endoscopy during an 18-month period, 64 (22%) had a hiatal hernia and 38 (13%) had esophagitis. Half the patients with a hiatal hernia had esophagitis, whereas the vast majority (84%) of patients with esophagitis had a concomitant hiatal hernia. The association between esophagitis and hiatal hernia was highly significant (P<0.0001). There was no statistically significant association between the size of the hiatal hernia and the degree of esophagitis on endoscopy. A permissive role of hiatal hernia in the genesis of reflux esophagitis is suggested.