Loperamide therapy for acute diarrhea in children
The drug loperamide is widely used as a treatment for diarrhoea in adults, but most authorities, including the World Health Organization recommend that it should not be given to young children. The wisdom of this approach is supported by new evidence published in PLoS Medicine. Researchers reviewed the evidence from 13 trials, involving over 900 children. They concluded that loperamide should not be given if a child is less than 3 years old, or if he or she is malnourished, seriously dehydrated or has bloody diarrhoea. In any of these situations the risks outweighs the benefits, even at low doses. In other children the drug may play a useful part in the treatment of diarrhoea.
Citation: Li ST, Grossman DC, Cummings P (2007) Loperamide therapy for acute diarrhea in children: Systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Med 4(3): e98.
PLEASE ADD THE LINK TO THE PUBLISHED ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT:
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040098
PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-04-03-su-ting-li.pdf
Related image for press use: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-04-03-su-ting-li.jpg
- Caption: Meta-Analysis of Prevalence of Diarrhea at 24 Hours Among Those on Loperamide Compared with Controls The x-axis is on the log scale. Random effects prevalence ratio: 0.66 (95% CI: 0.57-0.77) Test for heterogeneity, p=0.914
CONTACT:
Su-Ting Li
University of California Davis
Department of Pediatrics
2516 Stockton Blvd
Sacramento, CA 95616
United States of America
+1 916-734-3211
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Contact: Andrew Hyde
press@plos.org
44-122-346-3330
Public Library of Science
26-Mar-2007
