Table 2.

Effects of prebiotics and probiotics in clinical studies

Participants	Treatment	Length of Trial	Outcomes	References
50 IBS children, Rome II criteria.	Lactobacillus GG vs placebo.	6 weeks	LGG ↓ incidence abdominal distention.	[50]
48 IBS patients, Rome II criteria.	VSL#3 vs placebo.	4 and 8 weeks	↓ flatulence and colonic transit.	[39]
30 Rome III FC patients; 30 controls.	VSL#3 vs placebo.	2 weeks	VSL#3 ↑complete spontaneous bowel movements.	[40]
59 IBS children.	VSL#3 vs placebo.	6 weeks	VSL#3 ↓ abdominal pain/discomfort, and bloating/gassiness.	[33]
104 children diagnosed with FAPD, IBS or FD.	Lactobacillus GG vs placebo.	4 weeks.	LGG treatment moderately improved abdominal pain.	[30]
105 FBD patients.	sc-FOS vs placebo.	6 weeks	sc-FOS ↓ intensity of digestive disorder symptoms ↑ quality of life, ↑ discomfort scores.	[56]

Abbreviations: FBD Functional Bowel Disorders, FAPD Functional Abdominal Pain Disorders, FD Functional Dyspepsia, sc-FOS short-chain Fructo-oligosaccharides