The COVID-19 pandemic brought to light the versatility of lateral flow tests (LFTs), with heavy endorsement from healthcare professionals and a greater awareness among the general public. But the use of LFTs extends beyond SARS-CoV-2 testing and could solve many issues currently weighing down ENT services, from long patient waiting lists for more complex diagnostic methods to improved prognostics. Offering a simpler and more convenient testing pathway for common conditions – such as reflux – can ultimately translate into better patient outcomes and huge cost savings.
Patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), also known as silent reflux, typically present with a variety of extra gastrointestinal symptoms, including a chronic cough, vocal problems and a difficulty swallowing, due to substantial laryngeal inflammation. This means that they are usually referred to ENT specialists for diagnosis, where they are subjected to time-consuming, inconvenient, invasive and costly techniques, including pH monitoring, pH impedance testing and endoscopy. Implementing a non-invasive LFT could help ENT specialists to definitively diagnose silent reflux quickly, and direct patients to the correct treatment earlier.
Peptest is a simple, non-invasive LFT to help identify laryngopharyngeal reflux as a first line investigation. This convenient test measures pepsin in saliva samples within just 20 minutes, does not require any specialist equipment and analyses can be performed in a standard laboratory at a total cost of around £25 per test. It is also less susceptible to operator variability and subjective interpretation, aiding in accurate diagnosis. By implementing Peptest as a first line diagnostic test, clinicians can help to streamline the management of patients, quickly and conclusively ruling out disease or speeding up diagnosis in one simple cost-effective LFT solution.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
To learn more about Peptest from BIOHIT HealthCare, visit
www.biohithealthcare.co.uk/biohit-product/peptest
