Pediatric gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Gastroesophageal reflux is a recognized clinical problem in infancy. To a great extent it represents a normal behavior that improves with maturation. The identification of appropriate candidates for medical and surgical therapy of GER during infancy is difficult and deserves further study. There are few well-conducted clinical trials of therapy for infantile GER that compare the usual drugs used for adults with GER. Moreover, medications currently licensed for adults are often not approved for pediatric use in the United States. Surgical therapy for GER should be reserved for infants with severe disease that does not respond to medical therapy.