Regurgitation and gastroesophageal reflux disease in six to nine months old Indonesian infants

Badriul Hegar, Debora Hindra I. Satari, Damayanti R. Sjarif, Yvan Vandenplas

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Purpose: Regurgitation is known to peak at the age of 3-4 months, with a sharp decrease around the age of 6 months. Little is known about the natural evolution of infants who still regurgitate after the age of 6 months. Methods: Hundred thirty-one infants older than 6 months regurgitating more than once a day were followed for a period of 3 months. Results: According to our data, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is seldom at this age. Most of the infants regurgitated 3 or more times/day and spit up an estimated volume of more than 15 mL. Eighty-five parents were educated regarding frequency of feeding. There were only 6 infants that still had frequent regurgitation (>3 times/day) despite an appropriate feeding schedule. The Infant GER Questionnaire score reached a score of 0 in 50% of the infants after one month of follow-up and in 81.9% at the third month of follow-up. There was an increase of the "weight for age z-score" trends in infants that still regurgitated at the end of follow-up and a declining z-score in infants that no longer regurgitated. An explanation may be that infants that regurgitate drink larger volumes than infants who do not regurgitate. Conservative treatment (reassurance, dietary treatment, behavioral advice) resulted in a significant better outcome than natural evolution. Conclusion: Regurgitation that persisted after the age of 6 months, strongly decreased during a 3-month follow-up with conservative treatment. GERD is rare in this age group; therefore, anti-reflux medication is only seldom needed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)240-247
Number of pages8
JournalPediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Volume16
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013

Keywords

  • Dietary treatment
  • Gastric regurgitation
  • Gastroesophageal reflux
  • Infant
  • Reassurance

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Regurgitation and gastroesophageal reflux disease in six to nine months old Indonesian infants'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this