Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Dec 28, 2024; 30(48): 5162-5173
Published online Dec 28, 2024. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i48.5162
Link between pharyngeal acid reflux episodes and the effectiveness of proton pump inhibitor therapy
Yen-Yang Chen, Chen-Chi Wang, Chun-Yi Chuang, Yung-An Tsou, Yen-Chun Peng, Chi-Sen Chang, Han-Chung Lien
Yen-Yang Chen, Yen-Chun Peng, Division of Gastroenterology, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 402, Taiwan
Chen-Chi Wang, Department of Otolaryngology, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 402, Taiwan
Chen-Chi Wang, Yen-Chun Peng, Han-Chung Lien, School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei 112, Taiwan
Chen-Chi Wang, School of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 402, Taiwan
Chun-Yi Chuang, School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 402, Taiwan
Chun-Yi Chuang, Department of Otolaryngology, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung 402, Taiwan
Yung-An Tsou, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 400, Taiwan
Chi-Sen Chang, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Tungs’ Taichung Metro Harbor Hospital, Taichung 435, Taiwan
Han-Chung Lien, Division of Gastroenterology, Center for Functional Esophageal Disorders, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 402, Taiwan
Han-Chung Lien, Department of Post-Baccalaureate Medicine, College of Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan
Author contributions: Lien HC had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity and accuracy of the data and analysis; Chen YY and Lien HC performed the literature search and wrote the manuscript; Lien HC and Wang CC contributed to the study design; Chen YY, Wang CC, Chuang CY, Tsou YA, Peng YC, Lien HC, and Chang CS provided administrative, technical, or material support; Chen YY, Lien HC, and Wang CC were involved in data acquisition, data interpretation, and statistical analysis; Lien HC and Chang CS were involved with the critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content and study supervision; All authors have reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by the Taiwan’s National Science and Technology Council, No. MOST 111-2314-B-005-004-MY2.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by the Taichung Veterans General Hospital’s Institutional Review Board.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: The technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset are available from the corresponding author at: lhc@vghtc.gov.tw.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Han-Chung Lien, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Director, Division of Gastroenterology, Center for Functional Esophageal Disorders, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, No. 1650 Taiwan Boulevard, Section 4, Taichung 435, Taiwan. lhc@vghtc.gov.tw
Received: July 27, 2024
Revised: September 17, 2024
Accepted: October 22, 2024
Published online: December 28, 2024
Processing time: 125 Days and 6.1 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: This study examines the link between pharyngeal acid reflux (PAR) episodes and the effectiveness of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy in laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) patients. Using specific potential of hydrogen (pH) criteria for PAR episodes detected by hypopharyngeal multichannel intraluminal impedance-pH, researchers found that patients with ≥ 2 baseline PAR episodes had a significantly higher response rate (73%) to PPI therapy compared to those without acidic reflux (33%). These findings underscore the importance of hypopharyngeal reflux monitoring, as PAR episodes appear to be crucial in predicting PPI efficacy. Hence, the authors recommend a personalized approach to LPR diagnosis and treatment in order to enhance patient outcomes.