Abstract
Background: Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) occurs in more than two-thirds of otherwise healthy infants and is the topic of discussion with pediatricians at one-quarter of all routine 6-month infant visits. GER is considered a normal physiologic process that occurs several times a day in healthy infants, children, and adults. GER is generally associated with transient relaxations of the lower esophageal sphincter independent of swallowing, which permits gastric contents to enter the esophagus. The Objective to find out the prevalence of GER in children with cough and wheezing and its associated factors. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done at A tertiary care hospital at the Institute of Naval Medicine, INHS, Mumbai from August 2016 to December 2017. A total of 30 study subjects Aged between the age of one to twelve years with persistent cough and wheezing lasting for more than three months despite treatment were included for the study. Results: The prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux (GER) in our study was 63.3%.The logistic regression analysis showed that Age, Height, Weight, BMI, duration of cough, Duration of asthma were not significantly associated with Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) (p>0.05). Conclusion: GER seems to have a high prevalence in children with chronic cough. However, no definite recommendations can be made regarding the management of such cases from our study.
Highlights
In approximately more than two-thirds of children gastroesophageal reflux is seen and one of the major conditions seen by pediatrician especially among the 6-month infant visit. [1,2] Apart from seeking guidance from the pediatrician about this condition parents want to be evaluated by Pediatrician Medical Subspecialists
It usually occurs after the meals and will be for 3 minutes duration and can cause symptoms sometimes. [4,6,7] Whereas the Physiological Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) with regurgitation or spitting up among infants and children occurs very often in more than 50 % of the individuals and very less information is available. [7,8] the present study was done at our tertiary care center to the prevalence of GER in children with cough and wheezing for a period of three months or more using precise diagnostic tools like Gastroesophageal scintigraphy
The strength of the present study is that it was conducted in a tertiary care set- up with in-house availability of required investigations where there was a high number of chronic cough cases being managed
Summary
In approximately more than two-thirds of children gastroesophageal reflux is seen and one of the major conditions seen by pediatrician especially among the 6-month infant visit. [1,2] Apart from seeking guidance from the pediatrician about this condition parents want to be evaluated by Pediatrician Medical Subspecialists. [3] The state-of-the-art approaches to the evaluation and management based on evidence-based guidelines for pediatric GER have been welcomed by both general pediatricians and pediatric medical subspecialists and surgical specialists. GER is often presented with intermittent relaxation in the lower esophageal sphincter irrespective of swallowing which permits gastric contents to enter the esophagus. Among adults, it usually occurs after the meals and will be for 3 minutes duration and can cause symptoms sometimes. [7,8] the present study was done at our tertiary care center to the prevalence of GER in children with cough and wheezing for a period of three months or more using precise diagnostic tools like Gastroesophageal scintigraphy. GER is generally associated with transient relaxations of the lower esophageal sphincter independent of swallowing, which permits gastric contents to enter the esophagus. No definite recommendations can be made regarding the management of such cases from our study
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