Efficacy and safety of fexuprazan in patients with symptoms and signs of laryngopharyngeal reflux disease: a randomized clinical trial.

Purpose: Laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (LPRD) is mainly treated with proton pump inhibitors (PPI) such as esomeprazole, which have shortcomings like delayed absorption and increased osteoporosis. Fexuprazan is a novel potent potassium-competitive acid blocker that inhibits gastric acid secretion with rapid onset and long duration of action. To assess the efficacy and safety of fexuprazan compared to esomeprazole in patients with LPRD.

Methods: This prospective, randomized, double-blinded, multicenter, active-controlled trial was conducted in nine otolaryngologic clinics. Patients with reflux symptom index (RSI) ≥ 13 and reflux finding score (RFS) ≥ 7 were randomly assigned to the fexuprazan or esomeprazole groups, and received fexuprazan 40-mg or esomeprazole 40-mg once daily for 8 weeks. The outcomes were (1) mean change, change rate, and valid rate in RSI, RFS, and LPR-related questionnaires; and (2) adverse events.

Results: A total of 136 patients (fexuprazan n = 68, esomeprazole n = 68) were followed up for ≥ 1 month. Each parameter significantly improved after 4 and 8 weeks in each group, with no significant differences between the two groups. For those with severe symptoms (RSI ≥ 18), the fexuprazan group (n = 32) showed more improvement in the mean change and change rate in the RSI than esomeprazole group (n = 31) after 4 weeks (p = .036 and .045, respectively). This phenomenon was especially observed in hoarseness and troublesome cough.

Conclusion: Fexuprazan improved symptoms and signs without no serious adverse events in patients with LPRD. In patients with severe symptoms, fexuprazan resulted in a faster symptom improvement than PPI.

Trial registration: KCT0007251, https://cris.nih.go.kr/cris/search/detailSearch.do?seq=22100 .