Nonpharmacological therapy of gastroesophageal reflux in preterm infants / 中国实用护理杂志

ABSTRACT

Gastroesophageal reflux (GER) was very common among preterm infants, which could cause several complications and severely affects the prognosis. The standardization of diagnosis and treatment of gastroesophageal reflux was very important for preterm infants. Due to less adverse reactions, nonpharmacological therapy was the most advisable choice in preterm infants with GER. In this paper, nonpharmacological therapies including body positioning, feeding frequency and modality, changing food patterns, gastric tube, and nonnutritive sucking were reviewed. Body positioning was the safest and most effective nonpharmacological therapy. Other nonpharmacological strategies such as changes of feeding frequency and modality might also be useful. The role of some strategies was still controversial, thereby needing to be further investigated. Selection of what kind of specific nonpharmacological therapy should be based on the specific conditions.