Contrary to current clinical guidelines, new evidence suggests there is no value in the routine use of antacids in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
Instead, the findings suggest reflux directed therapy should be considered on an individual basis.
A study of 587 patients from the Australian IPF registry showed no clinical benefit from proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) or histamine-2 receptor antagonists after a median follow-up of 2.2 years.
At baseline, 65% of patients were taking antacid therapy, predominately PPIs (90%).
Of those patients receiving antacid treatment, only 50% reported significant symptoms and only 41.4% reported a diagnosis of GORD.
However the study found there was no difference in disease progression (annual fall in FVC% predicted) or mortality between those patients taking antacids and those patients who weren’t.