The Association Between Salivary Function and Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Measured Objectively

Objective: To evaluate the association between salivary function measured by salivary flow rate (SFR) and laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) in patients with symptoms completed 24-hour hypopharyngeal-esophageal multichannel intraluminal impedance-pH (24-h-HEMII-pH) monitoring. Methods: Patients with LPR symptoms underwent the 24-h-HEMII-pH monitoring and SFR was measured. We compared the SFR differences between LPR and non-LPR groups. Results: Sixty-seven of 80 (84%) patients were diagnosed with LPR. The mean unstimulated SFR of the LPR and non-LPR groups was 0.48 and 0.52 mL/min (P = 0.735). The mean stimulated SFR of the LPR and non-LPR groups was 2.5 and 2.3 mL/min (P = 0.610). In the LPR group and non-LPR group, the reflux symptom index (RSI) of the normal and abnormal SFR groups was not significantly differnt (P = 0.27 and P = 0.454). Conclusions: There was no significant difference in salivary function between patients with LPR and non-LPR.