Effects of Anesthesia on Pediatric pH Impedance

Anesthesia can alter gastric and small intestinal motility, but its effect on gastroesophageal reflux (GER) is unclear. We set out to evaluate the effect of anesthesia on pH-multichannel intraluminal impedance (pH impedance) evaluation of GER.

Retrospective single-center analysis of 95 pH impedance probe studies performed in patients both with anesthesia exposure and esophagogastroduodenoscopy (n = 50) and without (n = 45).

Increased acid reflux per hour, nonacid reflux per hour, and total reflux per hour were observed in the first 4 hours, both overall and in children 1 year or older and in both sedation groups. This difference remained for the older children without sedation by multiple regression analysis for nonacid reflux per hour and total reflux per hour. Patients using proton pump inhibitors had more nonacid reflux events per hour and total reflux events per hour regardless of sedation.

Based on the results of the present study, there is no need to eliminate the data collected immediately after placement of the probe in children younger than 1 year of age, but in those who are 1 year or older without sedation, there may be a greater number of reflux events in the first 4 hours. The first 4 hours, therefore, should be carefully evaluated in patients older than 1 year of age. Further study is needed to provide normative data for the first 4 hours versus the later time period, both for those undergoing sedation and for unsedated patients, to validate the findings from the present study and to better understand the mechanism of GER.