Abstract:

Objective  To investigate the effect of stellate ganglion block (SGB) on the treatment of patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux(LPR). Methods  Ninety patients were enrolled according to Reflux Symptom Index (RSI) and Reflux Finding Score (RFS) and randomly divided into stellate ganglion block group (SGB group, n=45) and proton pump inhibitor group (PPI group, n=45). Patients of PPI group were orally administrated with 20 mg of PPI for 8 weeks. Patients of SGB group underwent SGB by 5 mL lidocaine (1%) for 8 weeks, once a week. Scores of RSI and RFS 4 and 8 weeks after treatment were recorded. The differences of scores of each group and between every two groups before and after treatment were compared. Results  After 4 weeks of treatment, the scores of RSI and RFS of PPI group were 15.45±5.05 and 8.35±1.92, respectively. The differences of scores of RSI and RFS before and after treatment were not statistically significant (P>0.05). The scores of RSI and RFS of SGB group were 12.32±4.02 and 8.48±1.65, respectively. The differences of scores of RSI before and after treatment were statistically significant (P<0.05).Compared with PPI group, the scores of RSI of SGB group decreased and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). After 8 weeks of treatment, the scores of RSI and RFS of PPI group were 9.02±3.34 and 8.12±2.05, respectively. The scores of RSI decreased compared with those before treatment and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.01). The scores of RSI and RFS of SGB group were 8.85±3.62 and 6.17±1.22, respectively. The scores of both RSI and RFS decreased compared with those before treatment and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.01，P<0.05). After 8 weeks of treatment, the differences of scores of RSI of SGB group and PPI group were not statistically significant (P>0.05). Compared with PPI group, the scores of RFS of SGB group decreased and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion  SGB is a safe and effective method for the treatment of LPR. Especially at the early stage of treatment, the therapeutic effect of SGB is even better than that of PPI.

Key words: laryngopharyngeal reflux, gastroesophageal reflux, stellate ganglion block