This excised samples represent a minute amount of tissue when compared to the overall size of the diaphragmatic crura and surrounding ligamentous attachments, and their removal is not be expected to cause any foreseeable problem for the patient. In fact, hiatal hernia repair often necessitates dissection of much larger crural and connective tissue pieces than this in order to obtain complete reduction of the abdominal viscera out of the chest and subsequent closure of the hernia defect. Following removal of these small tissue samples, the hernia repair, esophageal myotomy, or gastric bypass/banding will then be completed in a standard fashion.