Mebeverine for pediatric functional abdominal pain: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Gastroenterology
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Childhood functional abdominal pain (FAP) is a common condition impacting children's quality of life.
• Identifying effective treatments for FAP is crucial for pediatric healthcare.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of mebeverine, an antispasmodic, in treating childhood functional abdominal pain (FAP).

Main Methods:

• A randomized, placebo-controlled trial involving 115 children (aged 6-18 years) with FAP.
• Participants received either mebeverine (135 mg twice daily) or placebo for 4 weeks, with a 12-week follow-up.
• Treatment response was measured by a reduction in a 6-point pain scale and physician-rated global severity.

Main Results:

• At 12 weeks, the per-protocol treatment response rate was 72.7% for mebeverine versus 53.4% for placebo (P = 0.0503).
• No statistically significant differences were observed in physician-rated global severity scores between groups at 4 or 12 weeks.
• While trends suggested potential benefit, mebeverine did not demonstrate a statistically significant effect over placebo in this study.

Conclusions:

• Mebeverine shows potential as a treatment for childhood FAP, but the study did not achieve statistical significance compared to placebo.
• Larger-scale clinical trials are warranted to definitively establish the efficacy of mebeverine for pediatric FAP.