Comparative study of oral probiotic and dimethicone on infantile colic

Infantile colic is one of the most common problems within the first 3 months of life, which affects as many as 3% to 28% of newborn children. It causes appreciable distress for parents and pediatricians even though its pathogenesis remains unclear. The goal was to test the hypothesis that oral administration of probiotic (Lactobacillus reuteri) in a prospective randomized study was improved symptoms of infantile colic.
This is a case control clinical trial study. Seventy breastfed colicky infants were assigned randomly to receive either the probiotic L. reuteri (108 live bacteria per day) or dimethicone (20 mg/day) three times/day for 28 days.
Seventy infants contain 34 and 36 in the probiotic L. reuteri and dimethicone groups, respectively. Average ages of L. reuteri and dimethicone groups were 41/35 and 43/5 days, respectively. Daily median crying times in the probiotic L. reuteri and dimethicone groups were reduced from initial value about 206 minutes/day on the seventh day to 65 and 141 minutes/day on the 28th day, respectively. Finally, 88% and 9% patients were improved in the probiotic L. reuteri and dimethicone groups, respectively. Furthermore, no adverse effects were reported.
The probiotic L. reuteri has improved colicky symptoms in breastfed infants within 2 weeks of treatment, which suggests that probiotics may have an important role in improving not only criteria of infantile colic but also severity of gas passing of them.