Jejunal Feeding Via Gastrojejunal Tube in Refractory Gastroesophageal Reflux

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in children can be severe and lead to multiple complications, dizziness, esophagitis, respiratory failure or ENT infections.

In the case of resistance to treatment with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), alternatives treatments includes antireflux surgery or fasting associated with parenteral nutrition. The use of gastrointestinal tubes (GJT) is relatively recent. Its objective is to allow a direct jejunal feeding, thus limiting the risk of severe gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Jejunal feeding using GJT has been compared to surgical techniques without finding any superiority. However, the risk of GERD recurrence appears to be greater if anti-reflux surgery is performed in a young child. As an alternative to anti-reflux surgery, prolonged parenteral nutrition (NPE) is burdened with its own morbidity (metabolic, infectious, vascular). In addition, the natural course of GERD is usually towards spontaneous improvement with the age and growth of the child. GJT may be used to postpone anti-reflux surgery and prevent NPE while waiting for spontaneous GERD improvement. In a cohort of 27 children, 5 did not require surgery or parenteral nutrition after placement of GJT . However, this study is difficult to analyze because of 9/27 deaths. Complications from GJT are common, ranging from obstruction requiring replacement to jejunal perforation. We will study the benefit of jejunal feeding on YSG for children followed for severe GERD.

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