Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics
-
Aliment. Pharmacol. Ther. · Jul 2002
ReviewReview article: treatment of mild and severe cases of GERD.
GERD prevalence continues to rise in contrast to peptic ulcer disease. The spectrum contains reflux esophagitis and so-called 'endoscopy-negative GERD' or 'non-erosive GERD' (NERD) or S-GERD and patients with 'normal' overall 24-h esophageal acidification but with a high 'symptom-index'. The majority of reflux patients will not need endoscopy initially. ⋯ Once a dose of the acid suppressant that relieves symptoms is found, this dose should be maintained for a period of 3 months. After this time, an attempt should be made to reduce the dose. A plan should be formulated for long-term treatment.