Rumination Disorder

Excerpt

Rumination syndrome is a functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by the repetitive, painless, effortless regurgitation of recently ingested food from the stomach back into the oral cavity in the absence of organic disease. Regurgitation is followed by remastication and expectoration (or reswallowing) of undigested food. Regurgitation usually occurs soon after finishing a meal, and symptoms can persist for up to 2 hours.

Rumination syndrome can occur in both children and adults and is classified as a functional gastrointestinal disorder by the Rome IV criteria and as an eating disorder according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5). Rumination syndrome is often misdiagnosed as gastroesophageal reflux disease or other recurrent vomiting disorders, including functional vomiting or gastroparesis, resulting in unnecessary testing and treatments and delaying therapies that alleviate the problem.