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Oral rehydration is the primary treatment for acute watery diarrhea in children. Opiate drugs such as loperamide, used as adjunctive therapy, disrupt peristalsis and lengthen intestinal transit time. Unlike loperamide, racecadotril, which inhibits intestinal enkephalinase, decreases intestinal hypersecretion without affecting intestinal motility. In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, manufacturer-sponsored study performed from 1994 to 1998 in Lima, Peru, racecadotril was evaluated in 135 boys 3 to 35 months old, hospitalized with dehydrating diarrhea of up to 5 days' duration.
The boys received oral rehydration solution plus either racecadotril (1.5 mg/kg) or placebo orally every 8 hours until diarrhea ceased, or for a maximu…