engleski

The Relationship between Gastroesofageal Reflux and Pneumonia in Children

Introduction. Gastroesophageal reflux is the return of the gastric contents into the upper parts of the gas-trointestinal tract, and they often enter into the res-piratory system resulting in chronic respiratory symp-toms and illnesses. Aspiration pneumonia in particular is caused by gastroesophageal reflux. Gastroesopha-geal reflux is diagnosed using a multichannel intralu-minal impedance with pH-metry while pneumonia is diagnosed radiologically. By analysing the findings the patient is diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia.Aim. To investigate the presence of aspiration pneu-monia caused by gastroesophageal reflux by com-paring the findings of a multichannel intraluminal impedance with pneumonia radiological findings.Methods. The study was conducted at the Depart-ment of Pulmonology and Allergology for Preschool and Schoolchildren at the Children’s Hospital Srebrnjak in the early 2017 by a nurse working at the depart-ment. The sample consists of 100 children admitted to hospital for chronic respiratory symptoms who un- derwent a multichannel intraluminal impedance with pH-metry in order to prove the existence of gastroe-sophageal reflux and who had a chest X- ray.Results. The pathologic gastroesophageal reflux was observed in 81 children (81%), a normal chest X-ray in 81 children (81%), and 19 children (19%) had pathological findings of chest X-ray, out of which 8 children had pneumonia (42.1% ).Discussion. In a study of 100 children with chronic respiratory symptoms without risk factors that would favor the aspiration of gastric contents, 7 children with aspiration pneumonia caused by gastroesopha-geal reflux were identified.Conclusion. The obtained results show a significant presence of aspiration pneumonia in children with chronic respiratory symptoms which confirms the need for active testing for gastroesophageal reflux in patients with respiratory symptoms, with the pur-pose of conducting adequate reflux treatment and treatment of pneumonia.

gastroesophageal reflux ; aspiration pneumonia ; impedance

nije evidentirano