Effect of Lactobacillus reuteri LRE02-Lactobacillus rhamnosus LR04 combination and gastrointestinal functional disorders in an Emergency Department pediatric population

G. Margiotta, S. Ferretti, B. Graglia, A. Gatto, L. Capossela, G. Bersani, A. Curatola, A. Chiaretti

Institute of Pediatrics, Fondazione Policlinico A. Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy. antonio.gatto@policlinicogemelli.it

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• Pharmacology

OBJECTIVE: Probiotics are living microorganisms that, when administered per os in adequate amounts, may confer a health benefit on the host by the regularization of an unbalanced gastroenteric microbiota. The objective of this study was to evaluate treatment effectiveness, safety, and palatability of a probiotic’s combination (Lactobacillus reuteri LRE02-DSM 23878 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus LR04-DSM 16605) in a pediatric Emergency Department setting with functional gastrointestinal disorders.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Three groups were enrolled: children with functional abdominal pain; children with gastroenteritis; children with gas colic. Self-reporting sheets were delivered to each patient/parent after probiotics treatment. The primary outcome was to evaluate the evolution of clinical conditions in enrolled children.

RESULTS: The outcomes showed a statistical difference among children treated with probiotics and those who did not. In the functional abdominal pain group, 58.2% of patients had a moderate symptoms improvement and 33.5% had a complete disappearance of symptoms, while in the gas colic group, 68.2% of the infants had a moderate improvement and 23.2% had a complete resolution. In the gastroenteritis group, stool consistency and number of evacuations improved in children who took probiotic administration as well.

CONCLUSIONS: Probiotics therapy, at the recommended dosage of five drops per day for 15 days, is associated with symptoms improvement. Moreover, the use of probiotics led to a stool consistency’s normalization in a shorter time, evaluated with BSS. A randomized trial is needed to confirm these results.

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