Significance of Esophageal Manometry and Long-term pH Monitoring for the Evaluation of Gastroesophageal Reflux in Infancy and Childhood

Abstract

Esophageal manometry and pH monitoring have found increased use in recent years for diagnosing reflux in childhood. It was, however, not taken into consideration in the evaluation of these methods that they provide different kinds of evidence. While pH monitoring directly documents gastroesophageal reflux (GER), manometry demonstrates only partial aspects of reflux prevention or relief mechanisms. Thus a direct comparison of the methods is not valid. Only the contribution of each method to the diagnosis of reflux can be the subject of discussion.