Role of Probiotics as Adjunct Therapy Along with Standard Care in Decreasing Hospital Stay and Improving Symptoms in Pediatric Patients Admitted with Severe Pneumonia

Abstract

Objective: To determine if probiotics have any role as adjunct therapy along with standard care in decreasing hospital stay and duration of symptoms in patients admitted with severe pneumonia.

Methodology: A randomized controlled trial was conducted at the Children’s Hospital, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), from March 2022 to September 2022. A total of 60 patients aged 2 to 24 months, admitted with severe pneumonia, were enrolled over a period of six months using non-probability consecutive sampling. The participants were randomly assigned into two groups using the lottery method: Group 1 (probiotic group) and Group 2 (placebo group). Group 1 received probiotics mixed in milk daily for three consecutive days, while Group 2 received plain milk as a placebo. The primary outcomes measured were the duration of hospital stay, time to resolution of cough, and time to resolution of fever.

Results: Both probiotics and placebo group participants had similar baseline characteristics. Duration of hospital stay, cough and fever all decreased in probiotic group. The average length of hospital stay did not decrease significantly in the probiotic group vs placebo group (6.5 ± 2.74-day vs 7.18 ± 2.23 days, p value=0.314). The average fever duration for probiotic group was 5.93 ± 2.71 days and for placebo group was 7.82 ± 5.15 days with p-value of 0.091 suggesting no statistically significant difference in both groups. The average cough duration was significantly less in probiotics group vs placebo group (9.46 ± 4.34 days vs 12.36 ± 5.63 days, p-value of 0.036).

Conclusion: Probiotics have potential to be beneficial in terms of reducing cough duration when added to standard care of pneumonia but further studies with larger sample size are required to elaborate on the hypothesis