Abstract

EVALUATION OF HEALTH RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE WITH RIFAXIMIN AND PROBIOTICS IN THE PATIENTS OF DIARRHEA PREDOMINANT IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME

*Dr. Himani Deswal, Dr. Sarita Goyal, Dr. Sandeep Goyal and Dr. M. C. Gupta

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), is the most common functional gastro-intestinal disorder, though non-life-threatening but it has an important impact on patient’s quality of life and healthcare system. As such no diagnostic marker exists for IBS-D, therefore HRQoL becomes a very important measure of health status in these patients. This study aim is to evaluate whether rifaximin and VSL#3 improves the QOL-IBS after treatment in the patients of IBS-D. Methodology: It was an open-label, parallel group, prospective, randomized and comparative study, in 94 patients diagnosed with IBS-D using ROME IV criteria, who were divided into two groups with either tab rifaximin 550 mg BD or tab VSL#3 BD for 14 days. Assessment was done by using IBS-QOL at baseline, 2weeks, 4weeks and 6weeks after treatment. Results: Both rifaximin and VSL#3 were found to be effective in IBS-QOL improving after treatment. Improvement in IBS-QOL from baseline was equivalent i.e 26% (p=0.244) at 2 weeks in both the groups which increased to 37% and 36% (p=0.317) of patients with rifaximin and VSL#3 respectively. At 6 weeks there is significant improvement with 42% of patients in rifaximin group as compared to 33% in the VSL#3 group (p= 0.045). Conclusion: Both rifaximin and VSL#3 were found to improve IBS-QOL after treatment in the patients of IBS-D.

Keywords: VSL#3, Rifaximin, IBS-D, ROME IV, IBS-QOL.