Comparison of the efficacy of ranitidine and quince syrup on gastroesophageal reflux disease in children

•This double-blind, randomized clinical trial was performed on 96 children suspected to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).•The participants were randomly assigned to two groups, namely ranitidine and ranitidine plus quince syrup groups.•The GERD symptoms were gathered before and after the intervention (4 weeks) using standardized Global Severity Questionnaire (GSQ-YC).•The symptoms of vomiting, refusal of eating, burping or belching, and abdominal or belly pain were significantly improved.•The comparison of the total score between the two groups showed that there was a significant difference 2, 4 and 6 weeks after the intervention.•The results showed that the administration of ranitidine plus quince syrup is useful to improve pediatric GERD. Since the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms in children is of the utmost importance, the current study is aimed to evaluating the efficacy of quince syrup and ranitidine in the management of pediatric patients with symptomatic GERD. This double-blind, randomized clinical trial was performed on 96 children suspected of suffering from GERD. The patients referred to the gastrointestinal clinic of Ghaem Hospital, Iran, during 2017. The participants were randomly categorized into two groups (ranitidine and ranitidine plus quince syrup). The GERD symptoms, including the severity and frequency of vomiting, refusal of eating, difficulty in swallowing, choking at the time of eating, burping or belching, and abdominal or belly pain, were gathered before and after the intervention (4 weeks) using standardized Global Severity Questionnaire (GSQ-YC). The comparison of two groups in terms of vomiting, refusal of eating, burping or belching, and abdominal or belly pain showed a significant difference 4 and 6 weeks after the intervention (P 0.05). The comparison of the total scores between the two groups showed that there was a significant difference 2 (17.8 ± 2.6 vs 23.4 ± 4.0; P