Use of Point-of-Care Gastric pH Testing to Assess the Efficacy of Acid Suppression Therapy in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Objective  The use of acid suppression therapies in newborns lacks efficacy and is associated with adverse effects. Point-of-care (POC) assessment of gastric aspirate pH may provide an objective, noninvasive measure of gastric acidity in tube fed infants. We conducted the present study to characterize the POC gastric pH levels in gastric tube fed infants before and after initiation of enteral omeprazole or ranitidine. Study Design  Retrospective cohort study of infants with gastric aspirate pH levels determined by POC pH strips. Gastric pH levels recorded during 7 days before and 14 days after medication initiation were compared using Wilcoxon's sign-rank tests. Result  Among 307 evaluated infants, 284 (92%) had a median gastric pH level ≥4 in 7 days prior to ranitidine or omeprazole. In 14 days after medication initiation, the median gastric pH of infants with pretreatment median gastric pH  p Conclusion  Among infants receiving gastric tube feedings and enteral omeprazole or ranitidine, only those with a pretreatment gastric pH level