Review article: issues in acid-related disorders in children in Asian countries

Major points of controversy identified by the workshop included:

(i) symptom assessment of acid-related disorders in children, where vomiting was identified as a potential confounding feature, abdominal pain as a common feature of paediatric gastro-oesophageal reflux disease;

(ii) extra-oesophageal manifestations of paediatric gastro-oesophageal reflux disease;

(iii) abdominal pain perceived as a common feature of Helicobacter pylori-related disorders;

(iv) role of testing for H. pylori in children;

(v) test-and-treat strategies for H. pylori infection in children before long-term proton pump inhibitor therapy;

(vi) an underutilization of triple therapy and proton pump inhibitors in children in areas with a high prevalence of H. pylori infection;

(vii) the role of empiric proton pump inhibitor therapy in children.