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Relationship between gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and constipation: laxative use is common in GERD patients

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Abstract

Background

The relationship between gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and constipation has not yet been examined in Japan. We herein analyzed the use of laxatives by GERD and non-GERD patients to clarify the relationship between GERD and constipation.

Methods

This was a retrospective observational study designed to examine the use of laxatives by GERD and non-GERD patients. A total of 118 patients (mean age 69.7 years, 50 males) with reflux esophagitis (RE) and non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) who received maintenance acid-suppressive therapy for more than 1 year were included in the GERD group (83 RE patients, 35NERD patients). Similarly, 61 patients (mean age 69.4 years, 28 males) who received regular acid-suppressive therapy for reasons other than GERD were included in the non-GERD group. We also investigated demographic factors associated with the onset of GERD, including body mass index (BMI), age, and sex.

Results

The frequency of laxative use was significantly higher in the GERD group (38.1%) than in the non-GERD group (21.3%). No significant differences were observed in dose frequencies between the groups. The type of laxative used also did not significantly differ between the groups. Furthermore, no significant differences were noted in sex, age, or BMI between the groups.

Conclusions

The use of laxatives was significantly more common in GERD patients than in non-GERD patients. The present results suggest that a relationship exists between GERD and constipation.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Ms. Satoko Nishimura for her administrative assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastroenterology, Nippon Medical School, Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1-5, Sendagi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8603, Japan

    Eri Momma, Mai Koeda, Tomohide Tanabe, Yoshimasa Hoshikawa, Shintaro Hoshino, Noriyuki Kawami, Tetsuro Kawagoe, Atsushi Tatsuguchi, Mitsuru Kaise & Katsuhiko Iwakiri

Authors
  1. Eri Momma
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  2. Mai Koeda
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  3. Tomohide Tanabe
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  4. Yoshimasa Hoshikawa
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  5. Shintaro Hoshino
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  6. Noriyuki Kawami
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  7. Tetsuro Kawagoe
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  8. Atsushi Tatsuguchi
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  9. Mitsuru Kaise
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  10. Katsuhiko Iwakiri
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Contributions

EM: protocol design, data acquisition and analysis, and writing of the manuscript. MK: data acquisition and analysis. TT: data acquisition and analysis. YH: data acquisition. SH: data acquisition. NK: data acquisition. TK: data acquisition. AT: data acquisition. MK: data acquisition. KI: protocol design, data acquisition and analysis, and writing of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katsuhiko Iwakiri.

Ethics declarations

Ethical Statement

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1964 and later versions.

Conflict of interest

Katsuhiko Iwakiri received lecture fees from Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., EA Pharma Co., Ltd., and Mochida Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. The remaining authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Informed consent or substitute for it was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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Momma, E., Koeda, M., Tanabe, T. et al. Relationship between gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and constipation: laxative use is common in GERD patients. Esophagus 18, 152–155 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10388-020-00770-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10388-020-00770-5

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