title: Effect of stellate ganglion block on laryngopharyngeal reflux disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) disease has many symptoms such as globus pharyngeus, excessive throat clearing and hoarseness. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of stellate ganglion block (SGB) in addition to proton pump inhibitors (PPI) on LPR.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty patients complaining of more than 3 typical LPR symptoms for over 3 months were enrolled in the study. The P group took PPI for 8 weeks. The SP group took PPI and interwent a series of 8 SGB procedure once a week during the period of treatment. The blocks were performed one at a time unilaterally on the right and left stellate ganglions by injecting 1% mepivacaine 6 ml. We evaluated the reflux symptom index (RSI) before treatment and following 4 weeks and 8 weeks of treatment in both groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After 4 weeks of treatment, the RSI of the P group decreased, but not significantly, to 16.6 ± 6.8 compared with the baseline value of 19.2 ± 2.7 (P = 0.093), whereas the RSI of the SP group decreased significantly to 9.8 ± 3.3 compared with the baseline value of 19.0 ± 4.7 (P = 0.000). After 8 weeks of treatment, the RSI of the P group decreased significantly to 13.7 ± 6.7 (P = 0.001) and the RSI of the SP group also decreased significantly to 7.7 ± 3.4 (P = 0.000). There were significant differences in the RSI between the two groups after 4 weeks (P = 0.000) and 8 weeks (P = 0.001) of treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The symptoms of LPR improved earlier when PPI therapy was combined with SGB compared with PPI therapy alone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Hospital, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan, Korea.
authors.forename: Ji Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Hye Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Chun
authors.forename: Mi Soon
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ki Ryang
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Chun Sook
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kyu Sik
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Sie Hyeon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Jin Hun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Nan-Seol
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yong Han
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Hyung Youn
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Yong Man
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: Laryngopharyngeal reflux; Proton pump inhibitors; Stellate ganglion block