Effectivity of alkaline water on the clinical improvement in laryngopharyngeal reflux

Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is the reflux of gastric acid through the upper oesophageal sphincter causing mucosal damage of the larynx, the gastrointestinal tract, and the upper airway. Alkaline water has the ability to withstand acidic conditions in the body, the formation of carbonic anhydrase, and reepithelization. This study aimed to investigate the effect of alkaline water on the clinical improvement in LPR patients. A randomized control trial with pre-test and post-test control group design on LPR patients aged 18 to 60 y.o. was conducted at the ENT-HS outpatient clinic of Dr Kariadi Central Hospital, Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. Thirty subjects were recruited and divided into two group with 15 subjects in each group. In the control group, the subjects were given standard therapy and mineral water. In the treatment group, the subjects were given standard therapy and alkaline water. The diagnosis of LPR was made if the reflux scoring index (RSI) was ≥13, and the reflux finding score (RFS) was >7. ,After two weeks of intervention, the clinical improvements were evaluated by reassessing the RSI score. The data were analyzed using the Shapiro-Wilk test and independent t-test. The results showed that the most common main complaint was throat clearing [11 subjects (37%)]. Based on the RSI score, there were clinical improvements in both the control (p <0.001) and the treatment groups (p <0.001). However, there was no significant difference in the RSI score before and after the intervention in the control (p = 0.058) and the treatment groups (p = 0.322). In conclusion,tbe d there is an effect of alkaline water on the clinical improvement of LPR patients. However, there is no significant difference in the clinical improvement between the control and the treatment groups.