24 h combined esophageal multichannel intraluminal impedance and pH monitoring in children with chronic cough

Abstract Background Chronic cough in children is closely related to gastroesophageal reflux. However, this association has not been adequately studied owing to a lack of diagnostic tools. Combined multichannel intraluminal impedance and pH (MII-pH) monitoring is considered the most accurate method for evaluating the association between symptoms and reflux, but data on its use in children with chronic cough are lacking. We aimed to assess the association between chronic cough and gastroesophageal reflux in children through MII-pH monitoring. Methods Children with chronic cough were selected to undergo 24-h MII-pH monitoring at our hospital. Patients were divided into two groups according to their age and reflux index (RI), and the differences between the groups were analyzed. Results Overall, 426 patients were included. The median age was 12 months (interquartile range: 6–39.5 months), and 129 patients (30.3%) had RI＞7%. Gastroesophageal reflux predominantly occurred in the upright position andmostly involved weakly acidic reflux and mixed gas-liquid reflux. Impedance reflux events did not show any difference between groups (p＜0.01). Conclusion The presence of acid and non-acid reflux in children can be detected through 24 h MII-pH monitoring, which is valuable for diagnosing gastroesophageal reflux disease and reflux-related cough.