Assessment of quality of life after laparoscopic GERD surgery in children: a prospective study

The purpose of this study is to assess quality of life (QoL) after laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery (LARS) in children with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and to evaluate GERD symptoms and their impact on daily life and school. From June 2016 to June 2019, all children with GERD from 2 to 16 years of age, without neurologic impairment or malformation-related reflux, were prospectively included in a monocentric study. Patients (or their parents according to the age of the child) answered the Pediatric Questionnaire on Gastroesophageal Symptoms and QoL (PGSQ) before surgery and 3 and 12 months after surgery. Variables were compared by paired, bilateral Student t-test. Twenty-eight children (16 boys) were included. The median age at surgery was 77 months (IQR: 59.2-137) with median weight of 22 kg (IQR: 19.8-42.3). All had a laparoscopic Toupet fundoplication. Median duration of follow-up was 14.7 months (IQR: 12.3-22.5). One patient (4%) had a recurrence of GERD symptoms without abnormalities on follow-up examinations. Preoperative total PGSQ score was 1.42 (± 0.7) and decreased significantly 3 months (0.56 ± 0.6; p < 0.001) and 12 months after surgery (0.34 ± 0.4; p < 0.001). PGSQ subscale analysis revealed a significant decrease at 3 and 12 months for GERD symptoms (p < 0.001), impact on daily life (p < 0.001), and impact on school (p = 0.03).

There was a significant improvement in symptoms and their frequency after LARS in children, as well as an improvement of QoL, in the short and medium term. The impact of GERD should be taken into consideration in the treatment decision, given that surgery clearly improves the QoL.

• Laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery (LARS) is an established and effective treatment option in pediatric patients with severe GERD refractory to medical treatment. • Effect of LARS on the quality of life (QoL) has been mainly investigated in the adult population but there is very little data on the effect of LARS on the QoL in pediatric patients.

• Our prospective study was the first to analyze the effect of LARS on QoL in pediatric patients without neurologic impairment using validated questionnaires at two postoperative time points with a significant improvement in postoperative QoL at 3 and 12 months. • Our study emphasizes the importance of evaluating QoL and impact of GERD on all the aspects of daily life and of taking these into consideration in the treatment decision.