Trial reportItalian journal of pediatrics2017
Efficacy of a mixture of probiotic agents as complementary therapy for chronic functional constipation in childhood.
Trial report in Italian journal of pediatrics, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 7 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
23 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition/North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition guidelines for treatment of functional constipation in children aged 0-18 years.Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition · 2026Guideline
- Efficacy and safety of non-pharmacological treatments for paediatric functional constipation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ paediatrics open · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy of Probiotics Compared With Pharmacological Treatments for Maintenance Therapy for Functional Constipation in Children: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis.Nutrition reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Faecal impaction in children aged 0-18 years: a systematic review and metanarrative analysis of definitions used.BMJ paediatrics open · 2025Pooled it
- Strategies used for childhood chronic functional constipation: the SUCCESS evidence synthesis.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2024Pooled it
- Probiotics for treatment of chronic constipation in children.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- GUT MICROBIOTA AND THE USE OF PROBIOTICS IN CONSTIPATION IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW.Revista paulista de pediatria : orgao oficial da Sociedade de Pediatria de Sao Paulo · 2020Pooled it
- Early Probiotic Supplementation of Healthy Term Infants withNutrients · 2023Trial
- A Randomized, Double-Blind, and Placebo-Controlled Trial of Chinese Herbal Medicine in the Treatment of Childhood Constipation.Clinical and translational gastroenterology · 2021Trial
- Trial
- Optimization of Medium Composition for High Cell Density Culture of Bifidobacterium longum HSBL001 Using Response Surface Methodology.MicrobiologyOpen · 2025Article
- Dietary and complementary oral supplements for the management of chronic diseases in children: a systematic review.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Review
- Impact ofNutrients · 2024Review
- Efficacy and acceptability of different probiotic products plus laxatives for pediatric functional constipation: a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.European journal of pediatrics · 2024Article
- Probiotics in the New Era of Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs): HMO Utilization and Beneficial Effects ofMicroorganisms · 2024Review
- Probiotics in Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2024Review
- Nutritional Aspects of Pediatric Gastrointestinal Diseases.Nutrients · 2021Review
- Paediatrics: how to manage functional constipation.Drugs in context · 2021Review
- Review
- Functional Constipation and the Gut Microbiome in Children: Preclinical and Clinical Evidence.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAbout 30% of constipated children continue to struggle with constipation beyond puberty. Growing interest has recently raised on the use of probiotics as complementary therapy for FC, in order to prevent the possible PEG-related intestinal dysbiosis. Our study aimed at evaluating the effect on childhood FC of a probiotic mixture (PM), including Bifidobacteria breve M-16 V®, infantis M-63®, and longum BB536®.
methodsFifty-five consecutive children suffering from FC were randomly assigned into two groups: group A received a daily oral combination of PEG plus PM and group B received oral PEG only. Physical and clinical data were collected from each patient at week-1, week-2, week-4, and week-8.
resultsAfter 1 month, children who experienced improvement in the PEG and in the PEG + PM group were 88 and 81.8%, respectively (p = 0.24). After 1 month from the end of the study treatment, a positive trend towards a higher rate of clinical remission was observed within children treated with PM compared to those who took only PEG (percentage of children off therapy: 64 vs 52, respectively; p = 0.28).
conclusionsPEG and PEG + PM are equally effective and safe in the treatment of children with chronic constipation. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to show if adding Bifidobacteria strains to conventional therapy may lead to a better long-term outcome.
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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.