Rikkunshito improves globus sensation in patients with proton-pump inhibitor-refractory laryngopharyngeal reflux

Table 1 Subjects’ characteristics

	Rikkunshito	Rikkunshito + PPI
Number of patients	11	11
Mean age (range)	55.9 (39-76)	56.6 (25-76)
Sex (male/female)	4/7	4/7
Smoking (yes/no)	5/6	3/8

There is no significant difference between the rikkunshito and rikkunshito + proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) groups (Fisher’s exact test or Wilcoxon’s rank sum test).

Table 2 Effects of rikkunshito and rikkunshito plus proton-pump inhibitor treatments on sore throat and excessive throat clearing in patients with proton-pump inhibitor-refractory laryngopharyngeal reflux

	Week	Visual analog scale score (mean ± SD)
		A: Rikkunshito	B: Rikkunshito + PPI	P (A vs B)
Sore throat		(n = 4)	(n = 5)
	-2	35.4 ± 21.6	44.3 ± 30.5	0.730
	0	24.0 ± 28.1	45.2 ± 28.4	0.234
	4	24.8 ± 32.8	31.8 ± 30.2a	0.538
Excessive throat clearing		(n = 4)	(n = 8)
	-2	48.0 ± 12.8	40.8 ± 32.5	1.000
	0	37.2 ± 21.5	45.7 ± 25.0	0.514
	4	39.8 ± 34.9	25.7 ± 24.2	0.569

Each value represents the mean ± SD.

^aP < 0.05, significantly different from the visual analog scale score at week 0 in each group (paired t test). No significant differences were found between the rikkunshito and rikkunshito plus proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) treatments at any time point.

Table 3 Gastrointestinal symptom rating scale scores after 4 wk treatments of rikkunshito with or without proton-pump inhibitor

	Week	Rikkunshito (mean ± SD)	Test1P value	Rikkunshito + PPI (mean ± SD)	Test1P value	Test2P value
Overall scores	-2	2.25 ± 1.06	0.232	2.19 ± 0.73	0.375	1.000
	0	2.12 ± 0.85	-	1.96 ± 0.50	-	0.778
	4	1.83 ± 0.84	0.148	1.73 ± 0.37	0.195	0.736
Subscale scores
Reflux syndrome	-2	2.25 ± 1.06	0.055	2.79 ± 0.91	0.170	0.369
	0	2.23 ± 1.60	-	2.45 ± 1.42	-	0.540
	4	1.94 ± 1.16	1.000	1.94 ± 0.86	0.106	0.801
Abdominal pain	-2	2.27 ± 1.29	0.168	2.33 ± 1.12	0.058	0.658
	0	1.87 ± 0.86	-	1.77 ± 0.85	-	0.914
	4	1.59 ± 0.78	0.250	1.50 ± 0.40	0.223	0.805
Indigestion syndrome	-2	2.40 ± 1.04	0.615	2.54 ± 1.29	0.551	0.844
	0	2.30 ± 1.03	-	2.20 ± 0.86	-	1.000
	4	2.17 ± 1.22	0.201	1.94 ± 0.75	0.139	0.961
Diarrhea syndrome	-2	1.77 ± 1.05	0.750	1.71 ± 0.71	1.000	0.878
	0	1.61 ± 0.68	-	1.77 ± 0.75	-	0.661
	4	1.41 ± 0.49	0.098	1.71 ± 0.68	0.866	0.345
Constipation syndrome	-2	1.77 ± 1.05	0.341	1.71 ± 0.71	0.784	0.138
	0	1.61 ± 0.68	-	1.77 ± 0.75	-	0.254
	4	1.41 ± 0.49	0.134	1.71 ± 0.68	1.000	0.883

0 week: Baseline. Test¹: There is also no significantly different compared from gastrointestinal symptom rating scale score at week 0 (Wilcoxon’s signed rank test); Test²: There is no significant difference between the rikkunshito with or without plus proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) treatment at each period (Wilcoxon’s rank sum test).