Response of Chronic Cough to Acid-Suppressive Therapy in Patients With Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

A therapeutic benefit for acid-suppressive therapy in patients with chronic cough cannot be dismissed. However, evidence suggests that rigorous patient selection is necessary to identify patient populations likely to be responsive, using physiologically timed cough events during reflux testing, minimal patient exclusion because of presumptive alternative diagnoses, and appropriate power to detect a modest therapeutic gain. Only then can we hope to resolve this vexing clinical management problem.