Abstract: Objective　To explore the clinical features, diagnosis and treatment of aerophagia in children. Methods The clinical data of aerophagia in 35 children diagnosed and treated from January 2014 to December 2018 were retrospective analyzed, and the relevant literature was reviewed. Results　In the 35 children (24 males, 11 females) with a median age was 57 months and a median disease course was 3 months. Gas swallowing and abdominal distension were found in all cases, followed by abdominal pain or abdominal discomfort in 20 cases (57.14%), belching in 15 cases (42.86%), vomiting in 11 cases (31.43%), loose stool in 10 cases (28.57%), and increased flatus in 9 cases (25.71%). Other symptoms included constipation in 6 cases (17.14%), loss of appetite in 5 cases (14.29%), weight loss in 5 cases (14.29%), and headache in 2 cases (5.71%). And 19 children (54.29%) had the suspected triggers. The abdominal X-ray showed bowel distension without gas-fluid levels. According to the triggers and the condition, the children were educated to reduce gas swallowing and had the symptomatic treatment. The symptoms in 33 patients (94.29%) were alleviated. Two patients (5.71%) with mental retardation showed poor efficacy and 5 patients (14.29%) had recurrent symptoms. Conclusions　Aerophagia can occur in children of all ages. There are a certain triggers for aerophagia. The main clinical features of aerophagia were diffuse abdominal distention and gas swallowing. The bowel distension without gas-fluid levels shown by X-ray can be the only characteristic discovery.Targeted therapy for removal of incentives is more effective in the treatment of aerophagia.

Key words: aerophagia;　clinical manifestations;　diagnosis;　treatment;　child