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In a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, researchers at a clinic in Italy randomized 44 infants (age, >6 months; mean, 8 months) with functional chronic constipation to receive a suspension of the probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri or placebo once daily 30 minutes after feeding for 8 weeks.
On the basis of parental report, frequency of bowel movement was significantly higher in the treatment group than in the placebo group beginning at week 2. At week 8, the proportion of infants in the probiotic group with 5 to 7 bowel movements per week had increased from 18% (at baseline) to 82%, compared with an increase from 23% to 55% in the placebo group. Stool consistency did not differ between the two groups. The frequency of inconsolable crying ep…