[Reflux esophagitis. Diagnosis and treatment].

Refluxoesophagitis was the topic of a meeting of gastroenterologists in Bergen this year for the purpose of working out consensus guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of this common disease. To day upper gastrointestinal endoscopy is the most important diagnostic procedure. There was a general agreement on using Berstad's staging scheme, which comprises only three stages of oesophagitis. Twenty-four hour pH-monitoring may provide useful information on the reflux pattern, but the practical consequences of the examination are still uncertain. H2-receptor antagonists are indicated in mild cases of oesophagitis. However, omeprazol is the only drug having a significant effect on endoscopic healing and therefore the drug of choice in severe oesophagitis. At present, there is no established maintenance treatment. Surgery is therefore recommended in patients with severe oesophagitis which does not respond to medical treatment, in patients with strictures, and in patients with severe Barrett's oesophagus. The Nissen-Rosetti fundoplicatio is recommended as the standard operative procedure.