Hello and thanks for the query.

Left sided rib pain can be associated with a number of conditions including esophagitis, pneumonia, pancreatitis or chest wall inflammation.

With your history I am more inclined to think there may be some esophagitis going on. This can lead to pain when food passes by an irritated region of the esophagus.

Sometimes it can take weeks for the inflamed area to heal but we may promote the healing with some medications.

Some medications which may help include omeprazole, ranitidine or sucralfate. These medications help promote healing of irritated tissue either by coating the area or by decreasing acid production.

I suggest you speak to your doctor about a trial of one or a combination of these medications to see if this provides some improvement. If it does not help you may need to have the surgeon evaluate to see if there is an issue with the fundoplication.

Thanks again for the query. I hope you found this response to be adequate and informative. If you have any additional concerns I would be happy to address them.

Sincerely,

Dr. Galamaga

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Hello,

There is no guaranteed answer to this so I think a trial and error approach is the best option.

I think if esophagitis is the issue nexium is preferable to ranitidine. I would suggest a 2 week trial of this to see if it helps.

Regarding healing - this can take 6 to 8 weeks and yes your symptoms may be due to mild inflammation generated by healing tissues. The fact that you have the pain more with eating makes me suspect irritation of the esophagus but if the food is stretching an area which was stitched this could also trigger the pain.

This is a challenging issue but I am confident that within a month or so you should have significant improvement. Try and remain as physically active as possible as well. This promotes healing.

Thanks again for the query. Please let me know if I may be of any additional help.

Sincerely,

Dr. Galamaga

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