A formulation of polyethylene glycol with electrolytes, known as Transipeg or PEG 3350, successfully relieves chronic constipation in kids while causing few side effects, according to Dutch researchers.

“Recently PEG 3350 has been suggested as a good alternative laxative to lactulose as a treatment in pediatric constipation,” Dr. W. P. Voskuijl, of the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam, and colleagues write in the medical journal Gut. However, no large trials have tested the efficacy of either laxative.

The team therefore conducted an 8-week clinical trial comparing Transipeg with lactulose in 100 constipated children ages 6 months to 15 years. Kids younger than 6 were given one sachet per day of either product, while children 6 or older got two 2 sachets.

Both treatment groups experienced significant increases in defecation frequency. The PEG 3350 group increased from three times per week before treatment to seven times per week with treatment; the lactulose group increased from three to six times per week.

Both groups also experienced significant decreases in the frequency of soiling - from 10 times per week to three times per week on PEG 3350, and from eight to three times per week with lactulose.

“A significantly higher number of patients in the PEG group were successfully treated after 8 weeks of treatment compared with the lactulose group,” Voskuijl’s team reports. The success rate was 56 percent with Transipeg versus 29 percent with lactulose, and the difference was seen in both age groups.

Patients in the PEG group also reported significantly less abdominal pain, straining, and pain at defecation than those in the lactulose group - although significantly more children treated with PEG complained of a bad taste.

SOURCE: Gut, November 2004.