Laparoscopic Toupet Fundoplication for the Treatment of Laryngopharyngeal Reflux: Results at Medium-Term follow-Up

Background: The effect of laparoscopic Toupet fundoplication (LTF) for the treatment of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is unclear. The purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of LTF for the treatment of LPR-related symptoms and disease-specific quality of life (QoL) up to 3-year follow-up. Materials and methods: Observational cohort study (2015–2019). Patients suffering from LPR were included. Preoperative evaluation included esophagogastroduodenoscopy, esophageal manometry and 24-h pH/impedance study. Symptoms and QoL were measured with the reflux symptom index (RSI) and the laryngopharyngeal reflux–health-related quality of life (LPR–HRQL) validate questionnaires at baseline and during follow-up. Results: Eighty-six patients were included. Twenty-three (27%) patients had pure LPR while 63 (73%) presented with combined LPR/GERD. Cough (89.7%), dyspnea/choking (39.6%) and asthma (25.6%) were the most commonly reported extraesophageal symptoms. The median (interquartile range, IQR) total RSI score before operation and at 3-month, 6-month, 1-year, 2-year and 3-year follow-up was 36.1 (10.3), 9.58 (12.3), 11.8 (10.2), 12.4 (9.6), 12.0 (13.1) and 10.1 (12.0), respectively. The median (IQR) total LPR–HRQL score before operation and at 3-month, 6-month, 1-year, 2-year and 3-year follow-up was 57.4 (22.2), 13.4 (14.9), 15.2 (12.8), 11.4 (10.9) and 11.9 (13.5), respectively. The subscores “voice,” “cough,” “throat” and “swallow” showed a significant improvement after intervention. Compared to baseline, each per-year follow-up pairwise comparison was significantly improved (p < 0.001). Conclusions: LTF seems feasible, effective and promising for the treatment of LPR with improved symptoms and disease-specific patients’ quality of life perception up to 3-year follow-up.