Comparison of the efficacy of ranitidine and quince syrup on gastroesophageal reflux disease in children

Introduction: Since the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms in children is of the utmost importance, the current study is aimed to evaluating the efficacy of quince syrup and ranitidine in the management of pediatric patients with symptomatic GERD. Methods and materials: This double-blind, randomized clinical trial was performed on 96 children suspected of suffering from GERD. The patients referred to the gastrointestinal clinic of Ghaem Hospital, Iran, during 2017. The participants were randomly categorized into two groups (ranitidine and ranitidine plus quince syrup). The GERD symptoms, including the severity and frequency of vomiting, refusal of eating, difficulty in swallowing, choking at the time of eating, burping or belching, and abdominal or belly pain, were gathered before and after the intervention (4 weeks) using standardized Global Severity Questionnaire (GSQ-YC). Results: The comparison of two groups in terms of vomiting, refusal of eating, burping or belching, and abdominal or belly pain showed a significant difference 4 and 6 weeks after the intervention (P < 0.05). However, the comparison of difficulty in swallowing and choking at the time of eating between the two groups showed that there was no significant difference after 2, 4, and 6 weeks of the intervention (P > 0.05). The comparison of the total scores between the two groups showed that there was a significant difference 2 (17.8 +/- 2.6 vs 23.4 +/- 4.0; P < 0.05), 4 (11.5 +/- 2.3 vs 18.8 +/- 3.6; P < 0.05), and 6 (12.2 +/- 2.3 vs 21.1 +/- 4.1; P < 0.05) weeks after the intervention. Conclusion: The results showed that the administration of ranitidine plus quince syrup was useful to improve pediatric GERD. However, it is recommended to conduct the future studies with a larger sample size and different dosage.