ArticleFrontiers in surgery2025
Effect of psyllium husk on low anterior resection syndrome after rectal cancer surgery-a pilot prospective cohort study.
Article in Frontiers in surgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Low anterior resection syndrome (LARS) is a frequent, undesired consequence of rectal cancer surgery. Psyllium husk has been suggested as a nutritional supplement in the management of LARS, but without trial-based evidence of its effect. In preparation of a randomized clinical trial, this pilot study aimed to estimate the effect of Psyllium husk in patients with LARS, determining the treatment duration required to observe the effect and assess patient compliance. Methods: This single arm phase II study included patients with LARS score >20 ten months or more after rectal resection. Patients who consented to participate were given 3.66 g Psyllium husk fiber twice daily for 56 days. The primary endpoint was severity of bowel dysfunction using the LARS score. The secondary endpoint was quality of life (QoL) using EQ-VAS score in the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire. A reduction of 7 points in LARS score was considered clinically relevant. Questionnaires and scores were collected on paper day 0 (baseline), day 28 and day 56. Results: 22 patients were assigned to the intervention and included in the analysis. The average age was 65.3 (SD 10.4), the average LARS score at baseline was 35,7 (SD 3.5), four patients had received radiotherapy. The proportion of patients with a LARS score reduction of 7 points or more compared to baseline was 50.0% at day 28 (11/22) and 50.0% at day 56 (10/20). The mean reduction in LARS scores from baseline to 8 weeks of treatment was 7.7 points. At day 28, the proportion of patients with a QoL score (EQ-VAS score) increase of 10 points or more was 36.4% (8/22), increasing to 60.0% (12/20) by day 56. Two patients dropped out after 4 weeks of treatment, one due to taste and consistency of the supplement and one due to inconsistently beneficial effect. Conclusions: Psyllium husk appears to clinically significantly improve both bowel dysfunction and QoL in rectal cancer patients suffering from LARS. This study highlights the need for further systematic research, and provides a strong basis for a well-designed RCT.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What 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.