Airway symptoms and sleeping difficulties in operated and non-operated patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease.

INTRODUCTION: Anti-reflux treatment studies have not succeeded in proving a causal relationship between gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), airway symptoms and sleeping difficulties. In a recent follow-up study we showed that patients operated for GERD have significantly less heartburn/acid regurgitation symptoms than matched non-operated patients. These two groups probably had different degrees of reflux over a long period of time. It is thus hypothesized that operated patients would report less airway symptoms and sleeping difficulties than comparable non-operated patients. A new follow-up study of the same patients was therefore conducted. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 179 patients operated for GERD and 179 matched non-operated patients with confirmed GERD were sent the Reflux, Airway & Sleep Questionnaire (RASQ), which is a new, validated questionnaire dealing with heartburn/acid regurgitation, airway symptoms, and sleeping difficulties. Answers are given on a 7-point Likert scale and the assessment period is 1 year. RESULTS: Response rates were 68% in both groups. Operated patients reported significantly less reflux symptoms than non-operated patients (p < 0.001). Patients in the surgery group also reported less symptoms in two subscales of the RASQ dealing with airway symptoms: Laryngopharyngitis (p = 0.04) and Bronchitis (p = 0.01). There was a tendency toward less sleeplessness in operated patients, but this was not statistically significant. Snoring was less bothersome in operated patients (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Patients operated for GERD have less heartburn/acid regurgitation symptoms and less airway symptoms than non-operated patients. The findings lend support to the hypothesis of a causal relationship between gastroesophageal reflux, airway symptoms, and sleeping difficulties.

Long-term outcome of surgically and medically treated patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease: a matched-pair follow-up study.

OBJECTIVE: A recent randomized study has shown that the long-term effects of continuous medical treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) with a proton-pump inhibitor are comparable to those of open fundoplication. We compared the long-term effects of anti-reflux surgery with those of medical care according to clinical practice. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a questionnaire-based 3-10 years follow-up study of 373 patients with GERD operated on in two hospitals with either open or laparoscopic fundoplication, and pair-matched non-operated controls treated medically according to clinical practice. The controls were matched for hospital, age, sex, follow-up time, degree of esophagitis, presence of hiatus hernia and Barrett's esophagus. The questionnaires used for symptoms and health-related quality of life (QoL) were the Gastrointestinal Symptoms Rating Scale and the Psychological General Well-Being Index, respectively. RESULTS: Response rates were about 80%, and 179 pairs of operated patients and controls remained for analysis (102 based on laparoscopic and 77 on open fundoplication). Independently of the surgical technique, the operated patients suffered at the follow-up from significantly (p <0.001) fewer reflux symptoms than the non-operated controls, the mean scores being 1.34 and 2.51, respectively. The operated patients suffered from slightly more symptoms of indigestion (p <0.05). No consistent significant differences between the groups were found for QoL. Significant differences in QoL in favor of the operated patients were found when dealing only with the 43 pairs with no concurrent disease. CONCLUSION: The study shows that in our area anti-reflux surgery is more effective in relieving reflux symptoms than medical care according to clinical practice.