Improvement of functional bloating by an enterovaccine: a preliminary study

ABSTRACT

Background: bloating is a fastidious symptom reported bymany patients who also have other gastrointestinal functional disorders.Bloating is more common in women, and it is often associatedwith meals and improves or disappears overnight. No specifictreatments are to date available for this disturbing symptom.Aims: to evaluate the effects of an oral enterovaccine (Colifagina®) on bloating and other abdominal symptoms in patients withprevalent complaints of functional bloating.Patients and methods: one hundred and forty-eight patientswith functional bloating according to Rome III criteria were recruited.Questionnaires and a VAS scale on their symptoms wereadministered at baseline and after four weeks of therapy with Colifagina®.Results: after treatment, a significant amelioration of bloating(p < 0.0001), abdominal pain (p < 0.0001) and flatus (p <0.0001) was observed; nausea and vomiting scores were not significantlydifferent at the end of the treatment. Subjective wellbeingwas also generally improved (p < 0.001) in treated patients.Conclusion: treatment with an enterovaccine may help improvesymptoms in patients with functional bloating(AU)