Pediatric Gastroesophageal Reflux Clinical Practice Guidelines: Joint Recommendations of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition and the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition.

This document serves as an update of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) 2009 clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and management of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in infants and children and is intended to be applied in daily practice and as a basis for clinical trials. Eight clinical questions addressing diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic topics were formulated. A systematic literature search was performed from October 1, 2008 (if the question was addressed by 2009 guidelines) or from inception to June 1, 2015 using Embase, MEDLINE, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Clinical Trials. The approach of the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) was applied to define and prioritize outcomes. For therapeutic questions, the quality of evidence was also assessed using GRADE. Grading the quality of evidence for other questions was performed according to the Quality Assessment of Studies of Diagnostic Accuracy (QUADAS) and Quality in Prognostic Studies (QUIPS) tools. During a 3-day consensus meeting, all recommendations were discussed and finalized. In cases where no randomized controlled trials (RCT; therapeutic questions) or diagnostic accuracy studies were available to support the recommendations, expert opinion was used. The group members voted on each recommendation, using the nominal voting technique. With this approach, recommendations regarding evaluation and management of infants and children with GERD to standardize and improve quality of care were formulated. Additionally, 2 algorithms were developed, 1 for infants <12 months of age and the other for older infants and children.

Impact of personalized feeding program in 100 NICU infants: pathophysiology-based approach for better outcomes.

OBJECTIVES: In neonatal intensive care unit infants referred for home-tube feeding methods, we evaluated the effect of an innovative diagnostic and management approach on feeding outcomes at discharge and 1 year, by comparing data from historical controls; we hypothesized that clinical and aerodigestive motility characteristics at evaluation were predictive of feeding outcomes at discharge; we assessed the economic impact of feeding outcomes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients (N = 100) who were referred for development of long-term feeding management strategy at 46.4 ±â€Š13.1 weeks' postmenstrual age were compared with 50 historical controls that received routine care. The focused approach included swallow-integrated pharyngoesophageal manometry, individualized feeding strategy, and prospective follow-up. Feeding success was defined as ability to achieve oral feedings at discharge and 1 year. Motility characteristics were evaluated in relation to feeding success or failure at discharge. RESULTS: Higher feeding success was achieved in the innovative feeding program (vs historical controls) at discharge (51% vs 10%, P < 0.0001) and at 1 year (84.3% vs 42.9%, P < 0.0001), at a reduced economic burden (P < 0.05). Contributing factors to the innovative program's feeding success (vs feeding failure) were earlier evaluation and discharge (both P < 0.05), greater peristaltic reflex-frequency to provocation (P < 0.05), normal pharyngeal manometry (P < 0.05), oral feeding challenge success (P < 0.05), and suck-swallow-breath-esophageal swallow sequence (P < 0.05). Probability of feeding success demonstrated a prediction rate of 79.6%. CONCLUSIONS: Short-term and long-term feeding outcomes in complex neonates can be significantly improved with innovative feeding strategies at a reduced cost. Clinical and aerodigestive motility characteristics were predictive of outcomes.

Newborn endothelin receptor type B mutant (piebald) mice have a higher resting anal sphincter pressure than newborn C57BL/6 mice.

Hirschsprung's disease is characterized by aganglionosis of the distal colon and hypertonicity of the anal sphincter. Endothelin receptor type B mutant (piebald) mice phenotypically resemble infants with Hirschsprung's disease in that these mice are susceptible to developing toxic megacolon because of the absence of ganglion cells in their distal colon. Therefore, we hypothesized that newborn piebald mice would have a higher resting anal sphincter pressure than would newborn wild-type mice. To test this hypothesis, we developed a reliable and reproducible technique for measuring the resting anal sphincter pressure in mice. Heterozygote breeding pairs of endothelin receptor type B mutant mice were purchased and bred in our animal facility. Pregnant, time-dated C57BL/6J mice provided control newborn mice. One-day-old newborn mice were evaluated for resting anal sphincter pressure. Under the operating microscope, a 24-gauge open-tip epidural catheter was placed into the anus until a deflection (approximately 3 to 5 mm) was noticed on a polygraph pressure monitor. Three consecutive measurements were obtained for each mouse. Mean values for each group were determined and compared using Student's t test. The resting anal sphincter pressure (mean +/- standard deviation) in newborn C57BL/6J mice was 13.3 +/- 2.6 mmHg, whereas that in piebald mice 22.7 +/- 2.5 mmHg (P < 0.0001). Therefore, because of their increased resting anal sphincter pressure, piebald mice may provide a useful animal model for the study of Hirschsprung's disease.

Discriminating pediatric condition falsification from chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction in toddlers.

Pediatric condition falsification may masquerade as chronic and serious digestive disease, including chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction. The purpose of this study was to define clinical criteria to discriminate between these two conditions. We compared medical records of 8 pediatric condition falsification victims to those of 14 children with chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction. Clinical features suggesting pediatric condition falsification in toddlers presenting with chronic and severe digestive complaints included (a) daily abdominal pain, (b) illness involving three or more organ systems, (c) an accelerating disease trajectory, (d) a reported history of preterm birth, (e) absence of dilated bowel on x-ray, (f) normal antroduodenal manometry, and (g) no urinary neuromuscular disease. These results suggest that a diagnosis of pediatric condition falsification may be suspected in toddlers presenting with a phenotype for enteric neuromuscular disorders by features in the clinical history, symptoms, and signs.