Change in Symptoms and Mucosal Findings after Proton Pump Inhibitor in Patients with Laryngopharyngeal Reflux

Introduction  Although there are several reports of endoscopic findings of the larynx and esophagus in laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) patients, little is known about the correlation between change in symptoms and laryngeal and esophageal mucosal findings after proton pump inhibitor (PPI) treatment. Objective  The present study aimed to evaluate the changes in symptoms and mucosal findings of the larynx and esophagus using transnasal esophagoscopy (TNE) after PPI medication and to analyze their relationship in LPR patients. Methods  The current prospective study included 36 patients who complained of LPR symptoms. Reflux Symptom Index (RSI), Reflux Finding Score (RFS), and modified Los Angeles classification using TNE were obtained pretreatment and 8 weeks after treatment with PPIs. Results  Data from 22 patients who completed all examinations were analyzed. The mean age was 52.8 years, and 4 patients were men. The most common symptom was a globus sensation (54.6%). Both RSI ( p <  0.001) and RFS ( p  < 0.001) were significantly improved after 8 weeks with PPI treatment. However, there was no correlation between improvement of RSI and RFS ( p  = 0.350). Thirteen patients showed improvement in esophageal findings. However, there was no significant association between improvement of esophageal findings and RSI ( p  = 0.350) or RFS ( p  = 0.376). Conclusion  Although PPI treatment improved LPR symptoms and endoscopic findings, the change in symptoms was not related to endoscopic mucosal findings in the larynx and esophagus.