Abhilash Antony, Zainab Sunu Ali, Gangadhara Somayaji, Annet Olinda D’souza and Sunil Rao Padmaraj
Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) refers to retrograde flow of gastric contents to the upper aero-digestive tract which causes a variety of symptoms such as cough, hoarseness and asthma. In this study, we observed the changes seen in the microbiological flora in the pharyngeal wall mucosa in patientswith laryngopharyngeal reflux. A prospective study was conducted on 35 patients with Laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (LPRD) and 15 control patients in the ENT department in a tertiary care hospital. Swabs were taken from all the patients from the posterior pharyngeal wall and sent for microbiological analysis. Among the 35 patients with LPRD symptoms, 14.29% patients had normal pharyngeal flora, 21.88% isolates were of Non-fermenting Gram negative bacilli (Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas species), while 26.67% isolates were having Gram positive bacteria – (Staphylococcus aureus – 70% isolates, Enterococcus species – 20% isolates, coagulase negative Staphylococcus aureus – 10%). 50%of patients had isolates from the group of Enterobacteriaceae (E.coli – 12.5%, Klebsiella species – 37.50%, Citrobacter– 6.25%; Enterobacter species– 43.75%). The presence of bacterial flora in the posterior pharyngeal wall increases with the presence of laryngopharyngeal reflux disease with the predominant organism belonging to Enterobactericeae group.