Swallowing and Esophageal Disorders Center

You get care customized to your needs because our team includes many different specialists. For people with voice disorders, we work with ear-nose-throat doctors. Pulmonologists help us treat those with asthma and chronic cough. Our NCI-designated cancer center treats cancer of the esophagus. We also refer some patients to our excellent Vanderbilt surgeons.

We are one of only a handful of clinics in the United States treating rare or complex problems with the esophagus and swallowing. The world’s leading expert on esophageal dysmotility – when food isn’t moving from the throat to the stomach properly – is part of our team.

Vanderbilt helped develop wireless pH monitoring, which changed how reflux is diagnosed all over the world. We also use other new technologies, including impedance monitoring, high resolution manometry and bile monitoring – all ways to determine what’s happening in your esophagus.

If medication hasn’t helped your reflux or other symptoms, our specialists can review your diagnosis. You may need a different type of treatment, such as surgery.

We are at the forefront of science when it comes to diseases involving the esophagus. Our discoveries influence how other doctors and hospitals treat these conditions.

As part of an academic medical center, we offer access to some of the most promising new approaches being tested in clinical trials. Find a clinical trial.