Gastroesophgeal reflux (GER) is defined as involuntary movement of gastric contents into esophagus. Relaxation of lower esophageal sphincter caused by immature anatomical development in newborn and young infants produces GER frequently. We wanted to know whether the frequency of GER is influenced by feeding types and position or not. We studied in 16 subjects according to feeding types (breast feeding group: BFG-7, formula feeding group: FFG-9) who admitted to the Soonchunhyang university hospital for recurrent regurgitation with 24 hr esophageal pH monitoring from August 1996 to July 1999.

We compared two groups by number of reflux episode, reflux rate, longest episode, numbers of episodes lasting >5 minutes, longest episode in upright position and longest episode in supine position. We used Mann-Whitney test for statistical analysis.

1) The subjects were 7 infants in BFG and 9 infants in FFG, 16 in total, and mean age was 2.1, and 2.6 months for BFG and FFG, respectively. 2) The reflux numbers were 244±151/day, 275±155/day for BFG and FFG, respectively. 3) The reflux rate was 14±15% for BFG and 28± 22% for FFG. It was lower in BFG. 4) The longest episode was 20±28 minutes for BFG and 58±66 minutes for FFG. It was significantly longer in FFG. 5) The numbers of episodes lasting >5 minutes were 5±6 for BFG and 9±3 for FFG. 6) The longest episode in upright position was 10±8 minutes for BFG and 40±47 minutes for FFG. It was significantly shorter in BFG. 7) The longest episode in supine position was 18±29 minutes for BFG and 52±66 minutes for FFG. It was significantly shorter in BFG.

Breast feeding is strongly recommended to reduce the regurgitation in infancy. It is an another benefit of breast feeding.