Efficacy of saccharomyces boularddi (probiotic),
in the treatment of acute gastroenteritis, in pediatric practice
Hafeez A1,
Hassan M2, Kundi ZU3, Tariq P3, Ali S4,
Khan A4
1KRL Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan
2Children Hospital PIMS, Islamabad, Pakistan
3Rawalpindi General Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
4Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Objectives: We conducted this study to assess the efficacy of
saccharomyces boularddi in the treatment of uncomplicated, acute watery
diarrohea, in children.
Methods: It was a prospective, randomised controlled trial,
carried out at three centres in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, over a period of
two months. Three months to 5 yrs old children, having acute watery
diarrohea, were randomised into group ¡°A¡± (treated with ORS & nutrition
appropriate for age) and Group ¡°B¡± (treated with Saccharomyces boularddi
250mg b.d. & ORS & nutrition appropriate for age). They were
followed up for six days, frequency and consistency of stool along with
duration of illness and tolerence of treatment, were recorded. These
outcome measures from the test and the control group, were compared to find
out the effects of treatment. Independent samples ¡°t test¡± for continuos
and ¡°chi square test¡± for categorical variables were applied to assess the
statistical significance of the differences in means. Computer softwatre
package SPSS was used to process the data.
Results: There were 50 children in control (A) & 51 in test
(B) group. The mean age was 17.45 months (Range 3 to 60 months) and 60% of
the patients were males. The frequency of stools at day one was the same in
the two groups (P =0.175) ). However, at day 3 the frequency reduced
significantly in the group B as compared to that of group A (P=0.02). The
consistency of stool showed a positive trend in the test group as compared
to control, at day 3 & day 6 (P=0.003 & 0.004 respectively). The
average duration of the illness also decreased (P=0.006) by a mean of 1.1 days (95% CI 1.4 to 0.24 days).
The acceptance and tolerability of the drug were excellent & there were
no reported side effects.
Conclusions: Sacchoromyces Boularddi reduces the duration, of
mild to moderate watery diarrohea of acute onset, in children. The
consistency and frequency of stools also improves with treatment. And the
treatment is well tolerated with no significant side effects.