The investigators included 60 children (mean age: 3.1yrs, range 0.3-12years) with a diagnosis of AG, referred between April and July 2017 to the Department of Translational Medicine, section of Pediatric, University of Naples Federico II.
Patients enrolled were children from 3 months to 12 years old, with a diagnosis of acute diarrhea appeared less than 7 days before the admission, capability to oral rehydration, mild to moderate dehydration. Patients with diarrhea over 7 days, serious somatic pathology and severe dehydration were excluded.
The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Naples "Federico II" with the protocol number 25/17. At admission, written informed consent was obtained from participants' parents and from all patients older than 10 years. At first visit, a medical history was collected by one of the authors and all patients underwent clinical evaluation, including body weight and body temperature.
Frequency of bowel movements, stool consistency measured through the Bristol Stool Form Scale (BSFS) and other associated gastrointestinal symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and rectal bleeding, were accurately recorded. The BSFS is the most commonly standardized instrument used to rate stool consistency in children. On admission, the degree of dehydration was clinically determined for each patient, based on WHO recommendations and data were recorded on a scale from 1 to 3 (1 for mild or \<5%; 2 for moderate or 5% to 10%; 3 for severe or 10% and more).
Participants were randomly divided into two groups: Group 1 was treated with Actitan F and standard oral rehydration (SOR) and Group 2 was treated with SOR only ad libitum for 7 days. SOR is a reduced osmolarity oral solution (50/60 mmol/L Na), which is the first line therapy recommended by ESPGHAN guideline for Acute Diarrhea. Actitan F, instead, was orally administrated at dose of 1 sack every 4 hours, maximum 4 sacks/day for 7 days. Caregivers were instructed to administer the daily dose after mixing the contents of the sachet with a small amount of water. The study products used in this trial were donated by Aboca® Società Agricola SpA., Località Aboca, 20, 52037 Sansepolcro (AR) - Italy.
At home, all parents had to fulfill a daily diary to record number and consistency of stools, presence of fever, vomiting and children compliance with the therapy. During the final visit, scheduled after 7 days, the interim history was assessed, daily diaries were reviewed and discussed, and a physical evaluation was performed.
Outcomes
The primary outcome was the duration of diarrhea, defined as the number of stools after 24 hours of treatment or the time needed to normalize number and consistency of stools (compared with the period before the onset of diarrhea). Secondary outcomes were the evaluation of vomiting, body weight, possible need of hospitalization, compliance to therapy.
