New guidelines on the diagnosis and management of gastroesophageal reflux disease appear in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Among the strong recommendations with the highest level of evidence:

• Don’t use barium radiographs to diagnose the condition.
• Use an 8-week course of proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) for symptom relief and healing of erosive esophagitis.
• The various PPIs show the same level of efficacy.
• There is not an increased risk for adverse cardiovascular events among PPI users taking clopidogrel.

Source:American Journal of Gastroenterology