PROBIOTICS FOR PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF ANTIBIOTIC-ASSOCIATED DIARRHEA

Abstract

The use of probiotics has increased significantly over recent decades. This has been accompanied by an increasing amount of literature demonstrating their importance in clinical practice. Antibacterial drugs, like many other ones, have side effects, one of which is antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD). Although probiotics have been studied in a variety of applications, their usefulness in AAD is biologically based and supported by extensive clinical evidence. This review examined recent meta-analyses and systematic reviews to clarify questions regarding the usefulness of probiotics in AAD, including which strains have evidence of effectiveness in AAD, what dosages are effective, and the optimal duration of probiotic therapy. The majority of published randomized controlled trials and subsequent meta-analyses suggest the benefit of probiotics in the prevention of antibiotic-associated diarrhea.