HEALTH NEWS

Study Title:

Reflux Meds Dramatically Over-Prescribed to Infants

Study Abstract

OBJECTIVE. Our goal was to evaluate the diagnosis and treatment of infants with persistent regurgitation who were referred to a pediatric gastroenterology service.

METHODS. The records of 64 infants with persistent regurgitation and without any neurodevelopmental abnormalities, underlying illness, or cigarette smoke exposure were evaluated for diagnostic workup and treatment. Forty-four infants underwent extended esophageal pH monitoring.

RESULTS. Only 8 of 44 pH studies showed abnormal acid reflux. Forty-two of these 44 infants were already on antireflux medications. Other etiologies included hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (4) and renal tubular acidosis (1). Discontinuation of medication did not result in worsening of symptoms in most infants with normal pH studies.

CONCLUSIONS. The majority of infants who were prescribed antireflux drugs did not meet diagnostic criteria for gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Excerpted from WEB MD article:

The prescribing of anti-reflux drugs to infants with presumed GERD has skyrocketed in recent years, with one study showing a sevenfold increase in the use of one class of commonly prescribed acid-reducing medicines used by infants between 1999 and 2004.

This dramatic rise in usage has occurred despite the fact that almost no research has been done on the safety of anti-reflux drugs in children younger than age 1, Eric Hassall, MD, of Vancouver's British Columbia Children's Hospital, tells WebMD.

"We know that up to 70% of otherwise completely healthy babies spit up up to four times a day," he says. "As they reach the 7- or 8-month mark this rate drops. And by the time they start walking, less than 5% are still spitting up."

Study Information

Vikram Khoshoo, MD, PhD, Dean Edell, MD, MPH, Aaron Thompson, MD and Mitchell Rubin, MD
Are We Overprescribing Antireflux Medications for Infants With Regurgitation?
Pediatrics
2007 November
Pediatric Specialty Center, West Jefferson Medical Center, New Orleans, Louisiana.