Failure of aspirin in symptomatic treatment of acute diarrhoea

Aspirin-mediated prostaglandin inhibition has been suggested in symptomatic relief of diarrhoea. The aim of the study was to evaluate in a controlled double-blind trial if a short-term treatment with aspirin could limit the clinical course of acute diarrhoea in adults. Seventy patients attending the Department of Infectious Diseases, General Hospital of Malmö, Sweden, with acute diarrhoea due to different causal agents, received either 1500 mg aspirin per day (n = 33) or placebo (n = 37) for two days. No difference was observed in the duration of diarrhoea, frequency and consistency of stools during treatment or subjective general discomfort. The previously reported effect of aspirin on acute diarrhoea could not be confirmed in this clinical study.