The Relationship Between Gastroesophageal Reflux and Chronic Unexplained Cough in Children

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Gastroenterology
• Respiratory Medicine
• Reflux Disorders

Background:

• Chronic cough is a common pediatric complaint.
• Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) is a potential contributing factor to chronic cough.
• The role of weakly acidic reflux in pediatric cough requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the association between chronic cough and acid or weakly acid gastroesophageal reflux (GER) in children.
• To determine if this association is dependent on the patient's age.
• To identify specific reflux characteristics linked to cough episodes.

Main Methods:

• Utilized 24-hour multichannel intraluminal impedance-pH monitoring to assess GER.
• Enrolled 150 children aged 0.3 to 18.0 years.
• Analyzed the temporal association between cough episodes and reflux events.

Main Results:

• A significant median of 87.5% of cough episodes were associated with GER.
• Weakly acidic reflux was associated with 60% of cough episodes, significantly higher than acidic reflux (9%).
• Children younger than 2 years exhibited a higher number of cough episodes linked to total and weakly acidic GER.

Conclusions:

• Chronic cough in children is significantly associated with gastroesophageal reflux, particularly weakly acidic reflux.
• Younger children (<2 years) are at a higher risk for cough associated with GER.
• Increasing age is associated with a decreased risk of complete cough association with GER.