[Is duodeno-gastro-esophageal reflux just a bystander of acid reflux?]

Duodeno-gastro-esophageal reflux (DGER) as measured with bilirubin monitoring is observed in many patients with reflux disease especially in Barrett's esophagus. As acid suppression is an effective therapy of reflux disease, DGER is frequently just considered as a bystander of acid reflux. To define the importance of DGER, reflux of duodenal contents was evaluated by bilirubin monitoring in the stomach.

100 patients with reflux disease were evaluated (62 m, 38 f, 50 (12) years). 26 patients had Barrett's esophagus, 57 had esophagitis and 17 non- erosive reflux disease (pH pos.). All patients were evaluated with simultaneous 24-hour bilirubin monitoring in the esophagus and stomach. Results were compared to 35 measurements of healthy volunteers in the esophagus and 41 measurements in the stomach.

Normal values: DGER - Exposure time esophagus > 11.8 % using an absorbance value > 0.14, duodenogastric reflux (DGR) - Exposure time stomach >24.8 % using an absorbance value > 0.25. 56 % of the patients had DGER, 41 % had DGR. 29 of the 41 patients with DGR had DGER (71 %), while 27 of the 56 patients with DGER had physiologic duodenogastric reflux (48 %).

About 30 % of the patients with reflux disease show DGER combined with excessive DGR. Therefore, DGER is not just a bystander of acid reflux. The excessive DGR in some patients adds additional potentially dangerous substances to the esophageal reflux.