Open-label placebo may contribute to therapeutic effect in children and adolescents with functional abdominal pain, irritable bowel syndrome<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
FRIDAY, Feb. 11, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Open-label placebo (OLP) may have a beneficial effect for the treatment of functional abdominal pain or irritable bowel syndrome in children and adolescents, according to a study published online Jan. 31 in JAMA Pediatrics<\/em>.<\/p>\n Samuel Nurko, M.D., M.P.H., from Boston Children’s Hospital, and colleagues conducted a multicenter crossover randomized clinical trial from July 1, 2015, to June 15, 2018, involving children and adolescents aged 8 to 18 years with functional abdominal pain or irritable bowel syndrome. Participants completed one week of observation and were randomly assigned to OLP for three weeks followed by a three-week control period or a three-week control period followed by three weeks of OLP. Participants took 1.5 mL of an inert liquid placebo twice a day during the OLP period. Participants also were given a bottle of hyoscyamine pills to use as a rescue medication. Data were included for 30 patients: 16 and 14 with functional abdominal pain and irritable bowel syndrome, respectively.<\/p>\n The researchers found that compared with the control period, the mean pain scores were significantly lower during OLP treatment (39.9 versus 45.0; difference, 5.2). Compared with the OLP period, during the control period, patients took nearly twice as many hyoscyamine pills (mean number, 3.8 versus 2.0; difference, 1.8 pills).<\/p>\n “Our findings suggest that OLP may provide an ethical way to harness the placebo effect as a therapeutic tool in the clinic,” the authors write. “More research is required to confirm and extend these findings.”<\/p>\n Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.<\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n <\/i><\/p>\n