Reflux esophagitis cough

Reflux esophagitis cough is a disease in which coughing causes the reflux of digested food in the stomach and intestines, which flows into the esophagus of the human body. Since the digested food itself is corrosive, it will irritate the esophagus of the human body. In more serious cases, this irritation will rise to pain and damage the esophageal cells.

symptom

1. Cough: A cough can last from weeks to years.

2. Expectoration: mainly dry cough, some patients can expectorate, mostly white sticky night sputum, expectoration is related to the reflex mechanism of reflux stimulation, and does not mean the presence of infection;

3. Gastroesophageal reflux symptoms: Typical reflux symptoms include burning sensation behind the sternum, acid reflux, belching, chest tightness, etc. GERD patients with microaspiration are more likely to experience cough and pharyngeal symptoms in the early stages. Clinically, there are also many patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease who have no reflux symptoms at all, and coughing is the only clinical manifestation. Coughing mostly occurs during the day and when standing upright, and is dry cough or produces a small amount of white sticky sputum.

Pathogenesis

The pathogenesis includes: direct stimulation of reflux, micro-inhalation of the airway, vagal reflex, etc.

1. Local stimulation: In the absence of aspiration, coughing is induced by stimulating the local mucosal irritation of the throat and stimulating the afferent of the cough reflex;

2. Inhalation irritation: Inhalation of reflux irritates the lower respiratory tract and causes coughing (micro-aspiration can lead to pharyngitis and bronchitis; large-scale aspiration can cause pulmonary aspiration syndrome, past pneumonia, pulmonary fibrosis, bronchiectasis, etc.);

3. Neural reflex: Stimulation of the esophageal-bronchial cough reflex causes chronic cough. The acidic digestive juice in the stomach refluxes into the lower esophagus, stimulating the vagus nerve in the respiratory tract, causing smooth muscle spasm and causing asthma.