A meta-analysis of the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine alone in the treatment of refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease

Background:To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of refractory gastroesophageal reflux.Methods:PubMed,The Cochrane Library,Embase,Web of Science,China National Knowledge Infrastructure,Wanfang Database,China Science and Technology Journal Database and Chinese BioMedical Literature Database were searched for randomized controlled trials of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of refractory gastroesophageal reflux from database establishment time to December 2020.After two researchers independently screened the literature,extracted data and evaluated the bias risk included in the study,RevMan5.3 software was used for meta-analysis.Results:A total of 12 randomized controlled trials,were included,including 893 patients.The results of meta-analysis showed that the total effective rate of the treatment group(relative risk=1.28,95%confidence interval(CI)(1.19,1.38),P<0.00001),RGERDQ(refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease)score(mean difference(MD)=−3.35,95%CI(−4.13,−2.57),P<0.00001],acid reflux(acid in the stomach comes out of the mouth)[MD=−0.30,95%CI(−0.45,−0.15),P<0.00001],heartburn(the feeling that the heart is burned)(MD=−0.44,95%CI(−0.60,−0.29),P<0.00001,and retrosternal pain(MD=−0.27,95%CI(−0.44,−0.10),P<0.00001,belching(MD=−0.40,95%CI(−0.57,−0.24),P<0.00001],endoscopic mucosal score(MD=−0.62,95%CI(−0.78,−0.46),P<0.00001],the differences were statistically significant,and the effective rate of mucosal improvement under endoscopy was P=0.93>0.05,with no statistically significant difference.Conclusion:The current evidence shows that traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease is better than that of western medicine in the total effective rate,relieving acid reflux,heartburn,retrosternal pain and belching symptoms,but it is impossible to judge the improvement of mucosa under endoscope.Due to the limitations of the quality and quantity of included studies,more high-quality studies are needed to confirm the above conclusions.

Laparoscopic fundoplication for gastroesophageal reflux disease

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a condition that develops when the reflux of gastric contents into the esophagus leads to troublesome symptoms and/or complications. Heartburn is the cardinal symptom, often associated with regurgitation. In patients with endoscopy-negative heartburn refractory to proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy and when the diagnosis of GERD is in question, direct reflux testing by impedance-pH monitoring is warranted. Laparoscopic fundoplication is the standard surgical treatment for GERD. It is highly effective in curing GERD with a 80% success rate at 20-year follow-up. The Nissen fundoplication, consisting of a total (360&#x000b0;) wrap, is the most commonly performed antireflux operation. To reduce postoperative dysphagia and gas bloating, partial fundoplications are also used, including the posterior (Toupet) fundoplication, and the anterior (Dor) fundoplication. Currently, there is consensus to advise laparoscopic fundoplication in PPI-responsive GERD only for those patients who develop untoward side-effects or complications from PPI therapy. PPI resistance is the real challenge in GERD. There is consensus that carefully selected GERD patients refractory to PPI therapy are eligible for laparoscopic fundoplication, provided that objective evidence of reflux as the cause of ongoing symptoms has been obtained. For this purpose, impedance-pH monitoring is regarded as the diagnostic gold standard.