P r o b l e m s o f G a s t r o o e s o p h a g e a l R e f l u x i n E N T P a t i e n t s

Overview

Gastrooesophageal reflux (GER) belongs into the group of diseases caused by impaired motility of the gastroin-testinal tract. However only in some patients the condition calls for examination and treatment. This is the casein particular in paediatrics. Reflux is to a certain extent a physiological phenomenon. It develops relativelyfrequently in infants and recedes with age. Some children have symptoms of reflux up to the age of 4 years andunless treated , some may develop complications. Despite modern examination techniques it is sometimesdifficult to define the boundary between physiological reflux and pathological refl ux which calls for treatment.GER is involuntary return of the gastric contents into the oesophagus As symptoms of reflux disease we describeeither oesophageal manifestations or uncommon symptoms without regurgitation or vomiting. GER can bemanifested also in the ENT area and may have an impact on relapsing otitis, laryngitis or hoarseness. The authordescribes also various procedures used to examine GER. Treatment is either conservative or medicamentous,under some circumstances treatment may be surgical. Subsequently some conditions with uncommon manifes-tations of reflux are discussed. Patients with phoniatric disease , with subglottic stenoses of obscure etiology aswell as patients with papillomatosis of the larynx may be treated by antireflux therapy which may influence theirbasic disease.

Key words:
gastrooesophageal reflux (GER) - airways