Nutritional supplements and other complementary medicines for infantile colic: a systematic review

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Evidence-Based Medicine
• Integrative Health

Background:

• Infantile colic is a common concern for infants.
• Complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) are frequently used for infantile colic.
• Evidence synthesis for CAM in infantile colic is lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically evaluate randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of CAM and nutritional supplements for infantile colic.
• To assess the quality of evidence for CAM treatments in infantile colic.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive search of five electronic databases up to February 2010.
• Inclusion of all relevant randomized clinical trials (RCTs).
• Methodological quality assessment using Jadad score and Cochrane risk of bias tools.

Main Results:

• Fifteen RCTs met inclusion criteria; thirteen were placebo-controlled.
• Eleven trials suggested positive outcomes for CAM, but all had flaws.
• Eight trials were of good methodological quality, but independent replication was often missing.

Conclusions:

• Fennel extract, mixed herbal tea, and sugar solutions show some encouraging results but have significant limitations.
• Current evidence from RCTs does not support the general effectiveness of CAM for infantile colic.
• Further high-quality, replicated studies are necessary to draw firm conclusions on CAM efficacy.