Trial reportIntensive care medicine2010
Probiotics in the critically ill patient: a double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.
Trial report in Intensive care medicine, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers, 15 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 15 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Strategies to Maximize the Benefits of Evidence-Based Enteral Nutrition: A Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- Role of probiotic supplementation in preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia among critically ill patients-a critical umbrella review of meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Heterogeneity of surrogate outcome measures used in critical care studies: A systematic review.Clinical trials (London, England) · 2023Pooled it
- Probiotic in the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia in critically ill patients: evidence from meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis of randomized clinical trials.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Probiotic Supplementation Prevents the Development of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia for Mechanically Ventilated ICU Patients: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Pooled it
- Effect of gut microbiota modulation on feeding tolerance of enterally fed critically ill adult patients: a systematic review.Systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Clinical Benefits From Administering Probiotics to Mechanical Ventilated Patients in Intensive Care Unit: A PRISMA-Guided Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Synbiotic Therapy Prevents Nosocomial Infection in Critically Ill Adult Patients: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials Based on a Bayesian Framework.Frontiers in medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Probiotic and synbiotic therapy in critical illness: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Critical care (London, England) · 2016Pooled it
- Topical antibiotics as a major contextual hazard toward bacteremia within selective digestive decontamination studies: a meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2014Pooled it
- Probiotics for preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2014Pooled it
- Use of probiotics in the treatment of severe acute pancreatitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Critical care (London, England) · 2014Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Probiotics' effects on the incidence of nosocomial pneumonia in critically ill patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Critical care (London, England) · 2012Pooled it
- Effect of probiotics on the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia in critically ill patients: a randomized controlled multicenter trial.Intensive care medicine · 2016Trial
- Probiotic prophylaxis to prevent ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) in children on mechanical ventilation: an open-label randomized controlled trial.Intensive care medicine · 2015Trial
- Effects of probiotics on serum levels of Th1/Th2 cytokine and clinical outcomes in severe traumatic brain-injured patients: a prospective randomized pilot study.Critical care (London, England) · 2011Trial
- Probiotic treatment in an intensive care unit: a narrative review.Journal of intensive care · 2025Review
- The Potential of Probiotics in Reducing Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia: A Literature-Based Analysis.Microorganisms · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeProbiotics have been shown to be able to restore a non-pathogenic digestive flora, to prevent digestive colonization by pathogenic bacteria, and to modulate immunity. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of prophylactic probiotic administration in patients ventilated for up to 2 days.
methodsThis study was performed as a double-blind, concealed randomized, placebo-controlled trial in a French medical intensive care unit (ICU). Adult patients mechanically ventilated for a period of more than 48 h received enterally administered probiotics (Ergyphilus, 2 x 10(10) lactic acid bacteria, mostly Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, once a day) or placebo until successful weaning.
resultsA total of 167 patients were included. The two groups were comparable at baseline. The 28-day mortality rates were not different in the probiotic (25.3%) and placebo groups (23.7%). Mortality rates in ICU and at 90 days were also unaffected by the treatment. The incidence of ICU-acquired infections did not differ significantly except for that of catheter-related bloodstream infections that was lowered by probiotics. On a prespecified subgroup analysis, we found a reduction of the 28-day mortality among severe sepsis patients (total n = 101) treated with probiotics (n = 52) with an odds ratio (OR) for death at 0.38 (95% CI 0.16-0.93, p = 0.035). By contrast, probiotics were associated with a higher mortality rate in non-severe sepsis patients (OR 3.09, 95% CI 0.87-11.01, p = 0.08).
conclusionsAlthough numerous uncertainties remain (type and the number of strains to use, delay and length of administration), and despite an acceptable safety profile, the daily prophylactic administration of probiotics cannot be encouraged in the critically ill patient.
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20502866What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.