Dexlansoprazole for Heartburn Relief in Adolescents with Symptomatic, Nonerosive Gastro-esophageal Reflux Disease.

BACKGROUND: Proton pump inhibitors are commonly used to treat gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) and nonerosive GERD (NERD) in adolescents and adults. Despite the efficacy of available medications, many patients have persisting symptoms, indicating a need for more effective agents.

AIMS: To assess the safety and efficacy of dexlansoprazole dual delayed-release capsules in adolescents for treatment of symptomatic NERD.

METHODS: A phase 2, open-label, multicenter study was conducted in adolescents aged 12-17 years. After a 21-day screening period, adolescents with endoscopically confirmed NERD received a daily dose of 30-mg dexlansoprazole for 4 weeks. The primary endpoint was treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) experienced by ≥5% of patients. The secondary endpoint was the percentage of days with neither daytime nor nighttime heartburn. Heartburn symptoms and severity were recorded daily in patient electronic diaries and independently assessed by the investigator, along with patient-reported quality of life, at the beginning and end of the study.

RESULTS: Diarrhea and headache were the only TEAEs reported by ≥5% of patients. Dexlansoprazole-treated patients (N = 104) reported a median 47.3% of days with neither daytime nor nighttime heartburn. Symptoms such as epigastric pain, acid regurgitation, and heartburn improved in severity for 73-80% of patients. Pediatric Gastroesophageal Symptom and Quality of Life Questionnaire-Adolescents-Short Form symptom and impact subscale scores (scaled 1-5) each decreased by an average of 0.7 units at week 4.

CONCLUSIONS: Use of 30-mg dexlansoprazole in adolescent NERD was generally well tolerated and had beneficial effects on improving heartburn symptoms and quality of life.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study has the ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT01642602.