How to Better Diagnose and Manage Rumination Syndrome

Rumination syndrome is a well-recognized functional disorder characterized by the regurgitation of food or liquid in the absence of retching or nausea. 

Evidence suggests that the prevalence of rumination syndrome is increasing. In a 2022 health survey study conducted across 26 countries — the largest epidemiologic study to date on rumination syndrome — investigators reported that it had a global prevalence of 3.1% in adults. This was higher than reported in most prior country-specific studies. More recently, a systematic review and meta-analysis from 2024 reported the pooled prevalence of rumination syndrome as 3.7% in adults and 0.4% in children. Both reports noted that female gender, anxiety, and depression were independent risk factors associated for rumination syndrome. 

Recognition of this disorder is crucial in order for clinicians to better diagnose and manage it in their patients.

Making the Diagnosis

The diagnosis of rumination syndrome is currently based on the Rome IV consensus criteria, which were last updated in 2016. These include three diagnostic criteria essential to remember as discriminant for rumination syndrome:

• Regurgitation is the effortless return of gastric contents (recognizable food) retrograde back into the esophagus and/or mouth.
• This is not preceded by retching and not associated with nausea.
• These symptoms must have started at least 6 months before evaluation, been evident over the past 3 months, and occurred at least two to three times per month.

Although this diagnosis will be highly suspected after taking an astute clinical history, you will still need to rule out the presence of underlying organic disease. 

Nearly one quarter of patients with eating disorders — which commonly accompany gastrointestinal disorders — will not have been diagnosed by the time they visit with a gastroenterologist. Therefore, gastroenterologists should be vigilant in screening for eating disorders. Notably, severe weight loss, malnutrition, electrolyte abnormalities, and dental erosions (due to acid etching) are uncommon in rumination syndrome. If such symptoms are present, it increases the possibility of an underlying eating disorder rather than primary regurgitation.

Previously, there were no published, validated questionnaires to assess the diagnosis or symptomatic response to therapies for rumination syndrome. This has recently changed with the development of a novel eight-point questionnaire that assesses frequency, severity, type of regurgitant, timing of regurgitation in relation to the meal, weight loss, and use of and response to proton pump inhibitors.

This questionnaire was recently implemented in five patients diagnosed with rumination syndrome. Albeit an extremely small trial, it nonetheless showed clinical improvement in scores associated with therapeutic intervention. Further evaluation of this tool is needed. 

The diagnosis of rumination syndrome can be confirmed using impedance manometry in persons with evidence of reflux extending to the proximal esophagus, which is associated with an intragastric pressure > 30 mm Hg in adults or > 25 mm Hg in children. 

Gastric emptying studies are typically not required to make a diagnosis unless the clinical symptoms are atypical and an alternative motility disorder is suspected. Endoscopy is performed to rule out a mechanical disorder.

Histopathologic Evidence

New data indicate that there may be specific histologic changes associated with rumination syndrome. A 2023 meta-analysis reported that patients with rumination syndrome had duodenal histologic evidence of increased lymphocytes and eosinophils, which have been associated with epithelial barrier dysfunction, microbial changes, and systemic immune activation in eosinophilic duodenitis. 

If these histologic changes are validated, they may suggest future novel diagnostic and treatment approaches, at least for a subset of people with rumination syndrome.

Best Available Treatments

The first-line therapeutic treatment for rumination syndrome is diaphragmatic breathing. 

I recommended using diaphragmatic breathing for this indication in a previous Medscape commentary, in which I noted that it can essentially serve as yoga for the diaphragm and abdominal muscles and advised patients to focus on breathing "through" their belly button. 

Patients are instructed to breath in through their nose for 4-6 seconds, hold their breath for 2-3 seconds, and then breath out slowly against pursed lips. They can be supine or upright but should sense their abdominal muscles expand with inhaling, not move their chest wall, and completely relax their abdominal muscles upon exhaling. 

Although there is no standard frequency or duration for diaphragmatic breathing, I routinely recommend patients try it after each meal for 10-15 minutes and, if possible, more during the day and in times of stress or anxiety. 

Cognitive-behavioral therapies have been shown to be effective alternatives to diaphragmatic breathing. 

There is some evidence that hypnosis and biofeedback-guided control of abdominothoracic muscle activity can also be effective options in treating rumination syndrome. 

Robust data on pharmacologic treatments for rumination syndrome are lacking, with the exception of a randomized crossover study of baclofen. In this study, baclofen (10 mg three times daily) was significantly more effective than placebo (P =.04) in reducing regurgitation events. Investigators theorized that b aclofen counteracts transient lower esophageal sphincter (LES) relaxations by increasing basal LES pressure, thereby potentially reducing regurgitation episodes. The most notable treatment side effects were somnolence, confusion, and dizziness, which may limit its extended use. 

A Potentially Reversible Habit

Rumination syndrome is considered an acquired habit and, therefore, should be reversible. 

Although there is no recent evidence in the literature that rumination syndrome contributes to a reduced survival rate, older data suggested adult mortality rates of 12%-20% (mostly in patients who were institutionalized). Additionally, rumination syndrome has been shown to diminish quality of life. 

The best approach to improving the clinical outcomes of patients with rumination syndrome is to enlist a collaborative interprofessional team that includes physicians, behavioral therapists, and nurses to coordinate and optimize existing treatment strategies. 

David A. Johnson, MD, a regular contributor to Medscape, is professor of medicine and chief of gastroenterology at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia, and a past president of the American College of Gastroenterology. His primary focus is the clinical practice of gastroenterology. He has published extensively in the internal medicine/gastroenterology literature, with principal research interests in esophageal and colon disease, and more recently in sleep and microbiome effects on gastrointestinal health and disease.