Incidence of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in Children With Cleft Lip and Palate and an Evaluation of Its Impact on Weight Gain

Patients with cleft lip and/or palate have higher rates of failure to thrive (FTT), decreased growth, and more often experience feeding difficulties as compared with the general pediatric population (J Child Health Care. 2014;18:72-83). Although insufficient nursing, excessive air intake, and incorrect feeding methods have been established in the literature, the role of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) as a contributing factor in cleft patients has not been thoroughly examined. Presently, there is a paucity of literature analyzing the incidence and effect of GERD on this unique population. Furthermore, no studies have evaluated the effect of GERD therapy on improvement of weight gain and FTT in cleft patients. The purpose of this retrospective review was to identify the incidence of GERD in the orofacial cleft population and to see if appropriate treatment was effective in improving weight gain. Fifty patients with cleft lip, cleft lip and palate, and isolated cleft palate were identified from a single surgeon's experience at a large academic medical center from 2015 to 2019. The data show that a significantly higher percentage of patients with cleft lip/and or palate have clinical evidence of GERD, which required treatment as compared with published reports of less than 1% in the noncleft population. The data also suggest that the patients diagnosed with GERD who received pharmacologic treatment showed improved weight gain as compared with those who did not. Given our findings, the diagnosis of GERD should be considered in orofacial cleft patients exhibiting signs of feeding difficulty or those with FTT. The early diagnosis and treatment of GERD in patients with orofacial clefts may improve weight gain.