Gastroesophageal reflux (GER), due to a dysfunction of the distal part of the esophagus, is common in infants. The 24 hour continuous esophageal pH monitoring has been shown to be one of the most reliable investigation techniques for GER in infants. 20 symptomatic infants with an initially abnormal pH monitoring for all parameters studied (refluxindex (32%), duration of the longest reflux episode(95 min), number of reflux episodes(45), number of reflux episodes > 5 min (14)) were treated with Cisapride, a new non-dopamine blocking gastrokinetic drug which showed in animal models an increased gastric, dudenal and jejunal motility and contractility. The administered dose was 5 dr/kg bodyweight, 4 times daily. No side-effects were observed. pH Monitoring was repeated after 2 weeks of treatment, in the same conditions. All infants became asymptomatic, and all parameters ( refluxindex (7 %), duration of the longest reflux episode (14 min), number of reflux episodes (21), number of reflux episodes > 5 min (3) in 24 hours ) showed a significant (P < 0.001 for all parameters, except for number of refuxes P < 0.01) improvement.Cisapride seems to be a save new drug, very effective in infants with an overt GER pathology.
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