View clinical trials related to Enterocolitis.
Filter by:We investigate the efficacy of probiotics in reducing the incidence and severity of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) for very low birth weight (VLBW) infants.A prospective, masked, multi-center randomized control trial will be conducted level III neonatal center to evaluate the beneficial effects of probiotics for NEC among VLBW (<1500 g) infants. VLBW infants who start to feed enterally are eligible and are randomized into 2 groups after parental informed consents were obtained. Infants in the study group are fed with Infloran (Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidus) with breast or formula milk twice daily for 6 weeks. Infants in the control group are fed with breast or formula milk alone. The clinicians caring for the infants are blinded to the group assignment. The primary outcome measurement is death or NEC (≧stage 2).
Approximately 65 patients will be entered into this study taking place in North America. The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety, efficacy and absorption of an investigational drug in patients with C. difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD). All study related care is provided including doctor visits, physical exams, laboratory tests and study medication. Total length of participation is 6 weeks.
All surgical procedures carry with them the risk of infection. Even a minor infection can extend the hospitalization after cardiac surgery. The average minimum increase in length of stay for a single infection is three days. One of the many means used to reduce post-operative infections is the preventative, or "prophylactic", administration of antibiotics just before and just after surgery. Because antibiotics, and for that matter surgery itself, alter the body's natural immune and inflammatory responses and the makeup of the bacteria in the intestine, there is a great deal of scientific interest in using the supplementation of bacteria that naturally reside in the intestine. It is felt that by doing so, the alterations in the immune response may be corrected and the patient better able to fight infections. There are studies using probiotics that have demonstrated a reduction in infection rates in patients undergoing abdominal surgery. Subjects will be patients at high risk for infection including those with any one or more of the following characteristics: over 65 years old, poor heart function (ejection fraction <40), diabetes (insulin dependant or non-insulin dependant), peripheral vascular disease, kidney dysfunction (creatinine level >2mg/dl), obesity (body surface area > 2 m2), low serum protein levels (albumin < 2.5 mg/dl), infection of the heart valve (endocarditis), or on any antibiotics other than standard prophylaxis before surgery. The safety of these products has been very well established. Patients who consent to enter the study will receive the synbiotic mix, or a placebo, which comes in a powder that may be mixed with a drink, or washed down into the stomach through the NG tube if the patient is still on a ventilator. Dosing will be initiated within four hours of patient arrival in the Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit and will continue on a twice daily basis for the duration of their admission days. Infection and diarrhea data will be monitored.