Preventing pediatric antibiotic-associated diarrhea and Clostridium difficile infections with probiotics: A meta-analysis

Table 1 Excluded studies from pediatric antibiotic-associated diarrhea and Clostridium difficile infections by year of publication and reason

Probiotic strain	Outcome	Reason for exclusion	Ref.
C. butyricum	AAD	Open, dose ranging study	Kurata et al[62], 1988
L. acidophilus + Bifido bifidum	Prevent AAD	Outcome measured by days of diarrhea. No data on AAD incidence	Contardi et al[50], 1991
Bifido bifidum _ Strept thermo	Prevention of nosocomial diarrhea	Unclear how many were exposed to antibiotics	Saavedra et al[58], 1994
L. acidophilus + L. bulgaricus	Prevent GI effects	No data on AAD, just “any GI effects”	Witsell et al[51], 1995
L. rhamnosus GG	Prevention of nosocomial diarrhea	Unclear how many were exposed to antibiotics	Szajewska et al[59], 2001
L. acidophilus + Bifido infantis + FOS	Increase in body weight for children on antibiotics	No data on diarrhea provided	Schrezenmeir et al[56], 2004
L. casei	Eradicate H. pylori in children given triple therapy	No data on diarrhea provided	Sýkora et al[57], 2005
L. reuteri	Reduce side effects of triple therapy for pediatric H. pylori infections	No data on diarrhea provided, only “disorders of defecation”, mixed diarrhea and upper GI	Lionetti et al[52], 2006
L. acidophilus + L. rhamnosus	Eradicate H. pylori in children given triple therapy	No data on diarrhea provided	Plewinska et al[55], 2006
Bifido animalis + L. casei	Eradication of H. pylori in children	Side effects (diarrhea) not documented	Goldman et al[53], 2006
S. boulardii	Eradication of H. pylori in children	No data on diarrhea provided	Hurduc et al[54], 2009
L. rhamnosus GG	Prevention of nosocomial pediatric respiratory or GI infections	None were exposed to antibiotics	Hojsak et al[60], 2010
L. reuteri DSM 17938	Prevent nosocomial diarrhea in children	Unclear how many were exposed to antibiotics	Wanke et al[61], 2012
Mix of 9 bacterial strains and inulin and lactoferrin	Improve H. pylori eradication and reduce AAD in children	Poorly described product (unknown concentrations of inulin and lactoferrin)	Tolone et al[63], 2012

S. boulardii: Saccharomyces boulardii; L. rhamnosus: Lactobacillus rhamnosus; H. pylori: Helicobacter pylori; AAD: Antibiotic-associated diarrhea; CDI: Clostridium difficile infection; GI: Gastrointestinal.