In children presenting to the paediatric emergency department (PED) with acute gastroenteritis, does the use of probiotics lead to a shorter duration of diarrhoeal symptoms?
Do not initiate probiotic therapy solely with the goal of shortening diarrhea duration in children with acute gastroenteritis presenting to your ED. The current evidence does not support this practice for symptomatic relief. Continue standard supportive care, as adding probiotics based on this review is unlikely to change management at the bedside.
This recent literature review specifically assessed whether administering probiotics shortens the symptomatic period in children presenting to the pediatric emergency department with acute gastroenteritis. The authors performed a systematic search across major databases, ultimately analyzing five relevant studies to draw conclusions regarding probiotic utility in this common ED presentation. Their analysis concluded that, based on the current body of evidence reviewed, there is no demonstrable benefit from prescribing probiotics for reducing the duration of diarrheal symptoms in this pediatric population. This suggests that while probiotics are popular, their role in managing acute gastroenteritis symptom duration remains unproven at the bedside.