Effects of probiotics in children with acute gastroenteritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis focusing on probiotics utilized in Japan.

Background: Many randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews have evaluated the use of probiotics to treat acute infectious gastroenteritis. However, most probiotic species evaluated in previous large randomized controlled trials are unavailable in Japan. Our objective was to investigate the efficacy of probiotics utilized in Japan for acute gastroenteritis.

Methods: The inclusion criterion was a randomized controlled study that compared probiotics with a placebo to treat children younger than 18 years with acute infectious gastroenteritis. We excluded studies that did not contain the following species available in Japan: Bifidobacterium spp., Lactobacillus acidophilus, Enterococcus faecium, Clostridium butyricum, and Bacillus subtilis and studies in low- or lower-middle-income countries. We searched PubMed, CENTRAL, and Igaku Chuo Zasshi from their inception to November 27, 2022. After the risk of bias assessment, data on diarrhea duration, number of hospitalizations, length of hospital stay, and adverse effects were extracted.

Results: Fourteen studies were included in this meta-analysis. Diarrhea lasting longer than 48 h (7 articles, n = 878) was significantly lower in the probiotic group (risk ratio (RR) 0.70, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.59-0.83). The duration of diarrhea (14 articles; n = 1761) was 23.45 h (95 % CI 18.22-26.69) shorter in the probiotic group. Duration of hospitalization (6 articles; n = 971) was 17.73 h (95 % CI 6.9-28.56) shorter in the probiotic group.

Conclusions: Although the certainty of evidence is very low, the use of probiotics for acute gastroenteritis in children may improve diarrhea approximately one day earlier. This study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD 42023405559).