Safety of lansoprazole in the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease in children.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the safety of lansoprazole in children between 1 and 11 years of age.

METHODS

In a phase I/II, open-label, multicenter (11 sites) study, children with symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), erosive esophagitis (> or = grade 2), and/or esophageal pH < 4 for > 4.2% of the 24-hour period were assigned, on the basis of body weight, to lansoprazole 15 mg (< or = 30 kg) or 30 mg (> 30 kg) once daily for 8 to 12 weeks. At the discretion of the investigator, the dosage of lansoprazole was increased up to 60 mg daily in children who continued to be symptomatic after 2 weeks of treatment. Safety for all study participants was monitored by adverse event reports and laboratory evaluations.

RESULTS

Sixty-six children were enrolled in the study and were included in the safety analysis. Throughout the treatment period, no child discontinued therapy because of an adverse event and no clinically significant changes in laboratory values were observed. Three of the 32 children (9%) who received lansoprazole 15 mg once daily (mean exposure 50.3 days) and 6 of the 34 children (18%) who received the 30 mg once-daily dose (mean exposure 49.4 days) experienced one or more treatment-related adverse events before any dose increase. The three children in the lansoprazole 15 mg treatment group were treated with doses of 0.6 mg to 1.2 mg/kg/day; those in the lansoprazole 30 mg treatment group were treated with doses of 0.7 mg to 0.9 mg/kg/day. Only one child experienced a new treatment-related adverse event after an increase in lansoprazole dose to 1.3 mg/kg/day. Treatment-related events experienced by two or more children were: constipation (lansoprazole 15 mg QD, two children; lansoprazole 30 mg QD, one child), and headache (lansoprazole 30 mg QD, two children). Mean fasting serum gastrin levels were significantly increased from 58.0 pg/mL at baseline to 112.4 pg/mL at week 2 and 121.9 pg/mL at the final visit (P < or = 0.001 for each comparison). However, the median fasting serum gastrin levels at the week 2 and the final visit were within the normal range (25-111 pg/mL).

CONCLUSIONS

Lansoprazole, when administered on the basis of body weight in children between 1 and 11 years of age, is safe and well-tolerated.