A preliminary report on the efficacy of the Multicare AR-Bed in 3-week–3-month-old infants on regurgitation, associated symptoms and acid reflux
- Y Vandenplas1,
- J De Schepper1,
- S Verheyden1,2,
- T Devreker1,
- J Franckx2,
- M Peelman1,
- E Denayer1,
- B Hauser1
- 1Universitair Ziekenhuis Kinderen, Brussels, Belgium
- 2Onze Lieve Vrouwziekenhuis Aalst, Campus Asse, Asse, Belgium
- Correspondence to Yvan Vandenplas, UZ Brussel Kinderen, Laarbeeklaan 101, 1090 Brussels, Belgium; yvan.vandenplas{at}uzbrussel.be
- Accepted 5 August 2009
- Published Online First 20 August 2009
Abstract
Objectives: The aim of this preliminary study was to evaluate the efficacy of a 40° supine body position on infant regurgitation, reflux-associated symptoms and acid reflux.
Intervention: Thirty of 52 consecutive infants presenting with frequent regurgitation and reflux-associated symptoms occurring mainly during feeding were evaluated in the Multicare AR-Bed (Peos, Ninove, Belgium). The Infant-Gastroesophageal Reflux Questionnaire-Revised (I-GERQ-R) and an oesophageal pH monitoring were performed at inclusion and after 1 week.
Results: Eight out of 30 (27%) infants did not tolerate the 40° positioning, and had to be taken out of the study within the first 2 days. However, in 22/30 (73%) infants the I-GERQ-R and acid reflux decreased significantly with the Multicare AR-Bed. The mean duration of use of the Multicare AR-Bed was 3.2 months.
Conclusion: The results of this pilot study suggest that a specially made bed that nurses the infant at 40° supine body position reduces regurgitation, acid reflux and reflux-associated symptoms. However, the intervention was open, the sample size small and the withdrawal rate was substantial. Larger trials are needed.
Footnotes
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Competing interests None.
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Provenance and Peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
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Ethics approval Ethics approval was obtained from the UZ Brussel Ethics Committee 2007/013.
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Patient consent Parental consent obtained.
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Contributions YV conceived and designed the study, supervised data collection, analysed and interpreted the data, and drafted the article. He is guarantor for this article. JDS did the statistical analysis and provided critical revisions to the article. SV contributed to inclusion of patients and data collection. TD was involved in the design of the study, contributed to inclusion of patients and data collection. JF, MP and ED contributed to inclusion of patients and data collection. BH was involved in the design of the study, contributed to inclusion of patients and data collection, and provided critical revisions to the article.
