Comparative efficacy of different schemes for the therapy of rotavirus gastroenteritis in children. Case–control study

Abstract

Objective research: compare the efficacy of different types of therapy for rotavirus gastroenteritis in children.

Materials and methods. A study was carried out, the design of which corresponded to the case–control type. The main group is children hospitalized in a hospital with laboratory confirmed rotavirus infection (35 cases), who were prescribed a modern regimen of therapy that included a low-carbohydrate diet, rehydration with low osmolar oral solutions, dioctahedral smectite, probiotic containing Saccharomyces boulardii. For each child of the main group was selected another patient (control), the corresponding sex, age, the period from the onset of the disease to admission to hospital, and the degree of dehydration. Patients of the control group (n=35) were assigned a traditional «old» therapy regimen, including a diet corresponding to Table No. 4 in Pevznur, oral rehydration solutions with osmolality of 282 mOsm/l, anthibacterial therapy (ceftriaxone), dioctahedral smectite and pancreatin at age-dependent doses. The duration of the observation was 5 days.

Results: By the 5th day of treatment, the normalization of the stool was recorded in 91.4% [95% CI 82.1–100.7], 32/35 in the main group and 71.4% [95% CI 56.5–86.3], 25/35 children in the control (p <0.05, OR 4.27 [95% CI 1.06–17.2]). The timing of relief of excess meteorism also had statistically significant differences and was shorter in patients receiving a «new» therapy regimen (OR 2.8 [95% CI 1.01–8])). The positive effect of the proposed scheme was also observed when assessing the duration of dehydration symptoms and the timing of hospitalization.

Conclusions: The conducted study case–control showed the advantage of modern schemes of therapy of rotavirus infections in children.