Professor (USC) Joerg Zehetner

Dr. Jörg Zehetner is a highly qualified specialist in surgery, with a focus on visceral surgery, and has been a professor at the University of Southern California (USC) for many years. He specializes in reflux treatment, gastric and oesophageal diseases (e.g. carcinomas), obesity surgery and visceral surgery. Dr. Zehetner's range of services also includes the surgical treatment of complex hiatal and abdominal wall hernias. Further information can also be found here: www.swiss1chirurgie.ch, www.zfbc.ch.

He completed his medical training (medical studies) in Switzerland, Austria and Spain. He completed his specialist surgical training in Switzerland (Aarberg, Bern, Lausanne) and Austria (Linz). After two years as a senior physician in Linz, he spent seven years researching and teaching in the USA in 2008. Dr. Zehetner has received several awards for his outstanding teaching activities. He is also an honorary member of the Society of Graduate Surgeons at USC in Los Angeles. Since 2015, Dr. Zehetner has been working together with PD Dr. Rudolf Steffen in his own abdominal surgery practice in Bern, and, as an attending physician, at the renowned Hirslanden Private Clinic Beau-Site and Hirslanden Salemspital, also located in Bern.

In 2017, Dr. Jörg Zehetner took over the practice and founded Swiss1Chirurgie AG. Since then, the team has been working with Dr. Zehetner at several locations in Switzerland, with practices in the cantons of Bern, Solothurn and Valais. In the canton of Solothurn, the practice is situated in the city, in Valais in Naters, near Brig, and in the canton of Bern in the capital Bern and in Thun (the abdominal surgery practice, Dr. Markus Naef).

Swiss1Chirurgie AG, with its various locations in Switzerland, is the largest private practice in the field of obesity surgery and reflux surgery. Together with the Center for Bariatric Surgery (ZfbC), approx. 3500 patients are monitored each year in various consultation hours.

Incidentally, Swiss1Chirurgie AG and the Center for Bariatric Surgery (ZfbC) are part of a network known as Helvetius Holding AG.

The parent company, Helvetius Holding, also owns the "Gastroenterologische Gruppenpraxis" (GGP Bern AG, www.ggp.center) and the "Praxiszentrum Bern" (PZBE, Praxiszentrum Bern AG, www.pzbe.ch). In this respect, Helvetius Holding's network of specialists is unique in Switzerland, and also treats national and international patients from all over the world.

Dr. Jörg Zehetner possesses many years of expertise at the highest level in laparoscopy, i.e. keyhole surgery, and also uses state-of-the-art procedures – such as robotic surgery. He is not only a specialist for initial operations, but is also a European leader in reflux surgery and bariatrics due to his experience in re-operations and complicated cases.

Dr. Zehetner has a particular focus on the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The esophageal sphincter muscle above the stomach is too weak to reliably seal off the stomach. As a result, acid and bile from the stomach can repeatedly enter the esophagus. Constant heartburn is the result, but in the long term, there are also more serious consequences, such as inflammation, chronic bronchitis and even esophageal cancer.

Dr. Zehetner uses the latest procedures for the treatment of GERD. Incidentally, he is the only surgeon in Switzerland who has mastered all established and new surgical methods in reflux surgery, and is, therefore, the only surgeon who can actually choose the best method from the individual methods – personalized medicine at its finest.

The LINX Reflux Management System:

an established system that Dr. Zehetner has been familiar with since 2008, when he began his stay in Los Angeles in the USA. At the renowned University of Southern California, Dr. Zehetner was involved in the studies with Dr. Tom DeMeester and Dr. John Lipham from the very beginning.
It concerns a very gentle and minimally invasive method, the so-called LINX™ Reflux Management System. As part of the procedure, he reinforces the sphincter muscle with a flexible ring made of titanium beads with magnetic cores. The magnetic attraction causes the ring to close, thereby supporting the sphincter muscle at the entrance to the stomach. It supports the muscle and thus closes the valve between the esophagus and stomach, but at the same time is loose and thus permeable enough to allow food to pass through without any problems. It is important to note that patients must not have difficulty swallowing or impaired esophageal function before the operation, so it must be decided on an individual basis whether this is a suitable method.

After the LINX™ procedure performed by Dr. Zehetner, patients are quickly ready for everyday life again – and the reflux symptoms no longer occur.

The RefluxStop System – Operation:

This is the only method in which all three components of the so-called anti-reflux barrier are repaired. Firstly, the function of the sphincter muscle between the stomach and esophagus is restored by bringing it into the correct position below the diaphragm. Secondly, an existing
diaphragmatic hernia can be repaired. And thirdly, the anti-reflux valve is repaired without wrapping the esophagus. Because the esophagus is not wrapped, far fewer side effects are to be expected. There is hardly any difficulty swallowing or a feeling of fullness and flatulence.

Who is this procedure suitable for?

This method can be used for all patients. Even for those with poor esophageal function. Patients may still regurgitate or vomit after the operation, and rarely have difficulty swallowing.

What are the results so far with the "RefluxStop" method?

We have already operated on over 100 patients at our center in Bern and have almost four years of experience with this method. Our results show excellent results with excellent reflux control and very few side effects.