A comparative study of mebeverine and synbiotic combination in patients with diarrhoea predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome in a Medical College in South India

摘要

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic, episodic functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by abdominal pain / discomfort and altered bowel habits. Though it is considered as a functional disorder, the burden of the disease to the patients is very high and the quality of life becomes miserable. Currently available IBS therapies are mainly symptom oriented and have limited efficacy. Various studies had done so far which provide a clear rationale for the use of Synbiotic in this disorder. The objective of the study includes, this study was planned to compare the efficacy of Mebeverine + Synbiotic combination with Mebeverine and Synbiotic monotherapy in patients with diarrhoea predominant irritable bowel syndrome. Methods: The study was done in Department of Medical Gastroenterology, Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital, Chennai for duration of one year. Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (diarrhea predominant type), diagnosed within 1 year and attending outpatient department were taken. A randomized, Phase III, prospective, interventional, open label, outpatient, comparative study design was done. A total of 60 patients divided into 3 groups were finally selected for the study purpose. Results: Twelve weeks after completion of active drug therapy, the Mebeverine + Synbiotic combination improved all the symptoms of IBS except abdominal pain. Further it was evident that combination therapy had significant remission in stool frequency and consistency when compared with other groups. Conclusions: Combination of Mebeverine + Synbiotic is more effective in improving most of the troublesome symptoms in patients with diarrhea predominant irritable bowel syndrome than other therapies and also in maintaining remission, in terms of frequency and consistency of stools.