Diagnosis and treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease

Figure 1 In general, patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease who are found to have evidence of erosive esophagitis on endoscopy should be placed on maintenance proton pump inhibitor due to the high risk of relapse off proton pump inhibitor. However, patients with NERD may achieve symptom control on H₂RAs or, alternatively, with on-demand PPI. If symptoms persist, maintenance PPI should be considered. GERD: Gastroesophageal reflux disease; PPI: Proton pump inhibitor; ERD: Erosive reflux disease; NERD: Non-erosive reflux disease.