title: Assessment of treatment response in patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux.
abstract: To evaluate treatment response in patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR). A prospective study of 100 patients with voice disorders was conducted. Patients were evaluated using reflux symptom index (RSI) and reflux finding score (RFS) by 70° rigid laryngoscope. Patients with RFS score of 7 or more were diagnosed of having LPR and were started with anti-reflux therapy for a period of 6 months. Patients were assessed at regular intervals using RSI and RFS. The prevalence of LPR in patients with voice disorders was found to be 25%. The mean RSI score improved gradually and significantly over a period of 6 months from 11.84 at presentation to 2.04 after 6 months of treatment (pvalue <0.001). The mean value of RFS improved from 7.92 at entry to 1.52 after 6 months of treatment (pvalue <0.001). However, it was found that the improvement was not significant at end of first month of treatment, and improvement in RSI and RFS scores was found only after 2 months of treatment. RSI and RFS improve significantly after treatment for 6 months with PPI like Omeprazole. But the improvement starts from the 2nd month from the onset of treatment. Treatment of LPR for at least 6 months may be indicated to attain a full resolution of physical findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of ENT, Lokamanya Tilak Municipal Medical College, Room No. 441, 4th Floor, College Building, Sion, Mumbai, 400022 India.
authors.forename: Anagha Atul
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Joshi
authors.affiliation: Department of ENT, Lokamanya Tilak Municipal Medical College, Room No. 441, 4th Floor, College Building, Sion, Mumbai, 400022 India.
authors.forename: Bhagyashri Ganesh
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Chiplunkar
authors.affiliation: Department of ENT, Lokamanya Tilak Municipal Medical College, Room No. 441, 4th Floor, College Building, Sion, Mumbai, 400022 India.
authors.forename: Renuka Anil
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bradoo
keywords: Laryngopharyngeal reflux; Reflux finding score; Reflux symptom index