“Quite honestly I think that there’s some projection on the part of adults who say, ‘I know how I feel when I have heartburn, which is the adult equivalent of reflux, and the baby must be experiencing the same thing, and that’s why they’re acting uncomfortable,’ ” suggested Dr. Eichenwald. “I think that it’s important for clinicians to educate families that a lot of the signs that we typically have attributed to gastroesophageal reflux are not really related to it.”
With both traditional and pharmacological interventions failing to treat preterm infant GER, Dr. Eichenwald believes that the most effective treatment could be patiently waiting. “I think that the important thing to stress is that reflux is a normal physiologic phenomenon. It rarely causes pathology in preterm infants, and therefore, in treating it, you’re not treating any pathology. You should just be patient and it will likely just go away on its own.”
Dr. Eichenwald has no potential conflicts of interest or external funding to report.
SOURCE: Eichenwald E et al. Pediatrics. 2018 June. doi: 10.1542/peds.2018-1061 .
