Clinical and functional portrait of infants with regurgitation syndrome

Background. Regurgitation syndrome is widely spread among young children and can be a sign of both age anatomical and functional features and serious pathological conditions. Pre­sence of the syndrome requires a careful etiological clarification for choosing therapeutic management (only observation or correction) during out-patient treatment. The purpose of the study was to evaluate characteristics of infants with regurgitation syndrome based on anamnestic, clinical and functional data analysis. Materials and methods. Fifty-four infants aged from 1 month to 2 years with regurgitation syndrome and other manifestations of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID) participated in this investigation. The patients were divided into two clinical groups: I group involved the patients with isolated regurgitation syndrome; II group consisted of the patients with the association of syndrome manifestations and other FGID. General clinical studies were carried out for all the patients. Hydrogen breath test (HBT) with nutritional lactose load was performed in 32 children. Results. All infants with FGID presented with regurgitation syndrome: in I group 18.5 % cases, in 81.5 % cases in combination with other FGID, in 24.1 % cases — in anamnesis only. Peculiarities of the courses of isolated syndrome manifestations were as follows: the higher intensity of regurgitation, absence of general condition disorders in a child and in physical development, a high percentage of children born by caesarean section and whose mothers had toxicosis. Frequent disorder of children’s behaviour (anxiety, sleep disturbance) and feeding technique, shortening of the time for introducing the first feeding and free feeding schedule are typical for combined manifestations. Positive results for HBT were received in 18.8 % children, doubtful ones were received in 31.2 % children. Conclusions. The results of the investigations made it possible to find out some clinic functional features of regurgitation syndrome in infants. It can be useful for observing and choosing clinical approach in practice.