Gastroesophageal reflux disease-related symptom recurrence in patients discontinuing proton pump inhibitors for Bravo wireless esophageal pH monitoring study.

BACKGROUND

Patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) are treated with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). Those that do not achieve symptom relief, or non-responders, usually undergo esophageal pH monitoring off PPIs in order to confirm the presence of GERD.

AIMS

To assess the efficacy of the reverse-PPI trial in evaluating the presence of GERD or its recurrence rates, as well as to identify a correlation between the symptom recurrence rates and GERD severity determined by 48-hour Bravo esophageal pH-monitor testing.

METHODS

A final total of 205 patients that underwent the 48-hour Bravo esophageal pH-monitoring study were retrospectively included. Patients discontinued PPI usage for at least 7 days prior to testing, and completed symptom questionnaires during the 2-day test. The Bravo test was considered positive if the percentage of time with esophageal pH <4 was >4.4%.

RESULTS

A total of 363 patients underwent 48-hour Bravo testing and of those patients, 205 were eligible for the study. Ninety-two patients reported symptoms as being «same/better» and 113 as being «worse» after stopping PPIs. Of the 92 patients with improved symptoms, 44 (48%) had documented acid reflux during the Bravo study, compared with 65 of 113 (58%) patients with worsening symptoms that also complained of acid reflux. Of the 109 patients found to have confirmed GERD upon pH monitoring, 65 (59.6%) reported a worsening of symptoms, compared with 48 of 96 (50.0%) patients without GERD (p=0.043). Main symptoms stated to be worse included heartburn, chest pain, regurgitation, nausea, and belching (p<0.05). Of the 205 patients, 103 were off PPIs for 7 days. Seventy-two of them (68.9%) reported a worsening of symptoms, compared with 40 of the 102 (41.2%) patients that were off PPIs for>7 days (p=0.042) CONCLUSION: Symptom exacerbation following PPI cessation for at least 7 days correlated with acid reflux severity assessed by Bravo testing. Patients off PPIs for 7 days had a higher likelihood of experiencing worsening symptoms, compared with those off PPIs for more than 7 days. These findings suggest that when PPIs are held for 7 days or less prior to Bravo testing, acute worsening of upper GI symptoms due to the abrupt discontinuation of therapy may influence the Bravo results. The etiology of this may be related to rebound acid hypersecretion and needs to be further elucidated in future studies.