RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of only dietary recommendations, zinc, probiotics and combination therapies in children admitted with acute gastroenteritis. METHODS: The comparative, prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted from October 2020 to April 2021 at the Paediatric Emergency Service after approval from the ethics review committee of Diyarbakir Gazi Yasargil Training and Research Hospital, Turkey, and comprised infants with a diagnosis of acute gastroenteritis who were divided into four groups. Only appropriate dietary recommendations were given to the control group 1, while group 2 was given a single probiotic containing bifidobacterium breve, bifidobacterium bifidum, bifidobacterium infantis and bifidobacterium longum strains. Group 3 was given zinc and group 4 was given probiotics and zinc. Demographic data of the patients, admission complaints, physical examination findings, dehydration degrees, and laboratory findings were recorded and analysed. RESULTS: Of the 132 subjects, 79 (59.8%) were males. The overall mean age was 27.5±3.6 months. There were 22 (16.7%) patients in group 1, 34 (25.8%) in group 2, 28 (21.2%) in group 3, and 48 (36.4%) in group 4. The mean duration time to diarrhoea termination was 84.5±10.7 hours (range: 79-89 hours) in group 1, 73.05±6.8 hours (range: 70.5-75.4 hours) in group 2, 80.1±10.3 hours (range: 76-84 hours) in group 3, and 43.5±9.6 hours (range: 46-48 hours) in group 4. Group 4 outcome was statistically significant (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The efficiency of combined treatment with probiotics and zinc was found to be significantly better in the treatment of childhood acute gastroenteritis.