Randomised clinical trial: the synbiotic food supplement Probiotical vs. placebo for acute gastroenteritis in children

Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2011; 34: 862–867 Summary Background Some probiotic strains reduce the duration of acute diarrhoea. As a result of strain and product specificity, each product needs support by clinical data. Aim In children with acute diarrhoea, to test the efficacy of the synbiotic food supplement Probiotical (Streptoccoccus thermophilus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium lactis, Bifidobacterium infantis, fructo‐oligosaccharides). The primary end‐points were duration of diarrhoea and the number of children that had a normalised stool consistency. Method A total of 111 children with acute diarrhoea (median age 40 months) were included in this randomised, prospective placebo‐controlled parallel clinical trial in primary health care. All children were treated with oral rehydration solution ad libitum and with the synbiotic (n = 57) or placebo (n = 54). Results The median duration of diarrhoea was 3 days (IQ 25–75: 2–4 days) in the Probiotical group, compared with 4 days (IQ 25–75: 4–5 days) in the placebo group (P