Utility of endoscopy in the diagnosis of hiatus hernia and correlation with GERD

Endoscopy is a common diagnostic tool in the evaluation of patients with upper gastrointestinal pathology, specifically gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and hiatal hernia. The relationship between these two disease processes are relatively intertwined and have clinical significance given the fact patients with hiatal hernia may be more likely to have acid reflux and there is a close relationship with hiatal hernia size and incidence of reflux disease; knowing how to diagnose these patients is clinically important. Moreover, knowing how to use endoscopy as a tool in diagnosing hiatal hernias is vital for physicians who routinely care for patients with these disease processes. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the clinical features of hiatal hernias, its relationship with reflux disease, and the use of endoscopy in diagnosing hiatal hernias as well as postoperative complications following foregut surgery.