Functional gastrointestinal disorders in infancy: Impact on the health of the infant and family

Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) such as infantile colic, constipation and colic occur in almost half of the infants. The aim of this paper is to provide a critical and updated review on the management of FGIDs and their impact on the health of the infant and family to health care physicians. Guidelines and expert recommendations were reviewed. FGIDs are a frequent cause of parental concern, impairment in quality of life of infants and relatives, and impose a financial burden to families, health care, and insurance. Therefore, primary management of the FGIDs should be focused on improving the infants' symptoms and quality of life of the family. If more than parental reassurance is needed, available evidence recommends nutritional advice as it is an effective strategy and most of the time devoid of adverse effects. The role of healthcare providers in reassuring parents and proposing the correct behavior and nutritional intervention by avoiding inappropriate use of medication, is essential in the management of FGIDs

Will esophageal impedance replace pH monitoring?

Esophageal impedance, a technique based on the fact that the passage of a bolus changes the impedance between esophageal segments, is being used more and more. Multiple esophageal impedance combined with pH monitoring is advocated to become the preferred technique to measure acid and nonacid gastroesophageal reflux. Compared with pH monitoring, impedance has the advantage of being independent of pH and, as a consequence, is better adapted to measure reflux (especially in the postprandial period when reflux is buffered) and detect symptoms associated with nonacid- or weakly acid-reflux episodes. Conversely, the analysis of an impedance tracing requires more time and knowledge than a pH tracing and is possibly subjected to higher interobserver variability. Day-to-day reproducibility and interobserver variability are considerable. Episodes detected only by pH monitoring or impedance are numerous in pediatrics; therefore, pH monitoring and impedance should be associated in analyses of multiple esophageal impedance combined with pH monitoring. Up to now, there has been a striking absence of literature showing attempts to link data from diagnostic procedures to clinical outcome in symptomatic patients. Furthermore, data suggesting that impedance does offer a clear-cut benefit in pediatric clinical routine are missing. High cost of the material and the investment in time necessary for interpretation of the recording remain a handicap. However, because pH monitoring is part of impedance technology, it is likely that the latter will soon replace pH monitoring despite the current need of scientific evidence demonstrating a relation between symptoms, esophageal damage or response to reflux treatment, and results of multiple esophageal impedance combined with pH monitoring

Prebiotics in infant nutrition

4sinonenoneVandenplas Y., Devreker T., Salvatore S., Hauser B.Vandenplas, Y.; Devreker, T.; Salvatore, S.; Hauser, B