Clinical and Histopathologic Efficiency of Sucralfate and Ursodeoxicolic Acid in Pediatric Duodenogastric Reflux Disease

Aim: The treatment approach, long-term consequences and surveillance protocols of duodenogastric reflux disease (DGRD) are not well established in the pediatric population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the histopathological and clinical responses to treatment with Ursodeoxicolic Acid (UDCA) and Sucralfate in children diagnosed with DGRD. 
Material and Method: This is a retrospective pre-post design study performed with children admitted to our clinic with reflux symptoms and diagnosed with duodenogastric reflux disease according to endoscopic and histopathologic evaluation. Patients were treated with Sucralfate 60mg/kg/day orally and UDCA at 10 mg/kg/day orally, for 6 months. We compared symptoms/findings, presence of Helicobacter pylori and histopathologic grade of disease before and after treatment. 
Results: The presence of all symptoms statistically significantly decreased after treatment. The presence of Helicobacter pylori decreased from 43.8% to 21.9%. There was also statistically significantly histopathologic improvement after six-month treatment of Sucrafate and UDCA. 
Conclusion: Six-month treatment of Sucralfate and UDCA provided valuable improvements in clinical and histopathologic features in pediatric patients with DGRD.