Background and purpose: In many patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), one symptom is predominant (e.g., diarrhea, constipation, meteorism, or alternating stool consistency). For IBS therapy, probiotic drugs such as Mutaflor (active ingredient: Escherichia coli strain Nissle 1917 [EcN]) are also being used. A systematic survey on the efficacy and safety of EcN in different IBS subgroups is still missing.
Patients and methods: In a gastroenterologic outpatient practice, results of 150 IBS patients treated with EcN were evaluated retrospectively. Most IBS patients enrolled belonged to the subgroups "diarrhea", "meteorism", and "alternating stool consistency".
Results: Regarding the diarrhea subgroup, not only a statistically significant improvement in stool frequency was observed, but also a marked improvement in concomitant symptoms such as abnormal urge, flatulence, and abdominal fullness. These complaints improved under EcN therapy in the other IBS subgroups as well, so that efficacy was assessed as "good to very good" in 73.4% of all cases. Tolerance to treatment was "good to very good" in 97.9% of the cases.
Conclusion: The results point to the possibility of EcN being a therapeutic option for patients of various IBS subgroups which is almost free of side effects.