Diarrhoea in adults (acute).
BACKGROUND
An estimated 4000 million cases of diarrhoea occurred worldwide in 1996, resulting in 2.5 million deaths.


METHODS
We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical questions: What are the effects of treatments for acute diarrhoea in adults living in resource-rich countries? What are the effects of treatments for acute mild-to-moderate diarrhoea in adults from resource-rich countries traveling to resource-poor countries? What are the effects of treatments for acute mild-to-moderate diarrhoea in adults living in resource-poor countries? What are the effects of treatments for acute severe diarrhoea in adults living in resource-poor countries? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library and other important databases up to January 2007 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically, please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).


RESULTS
We found 71 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions.


CONCLUSIONS
In this systematic review we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: antibiotics, antimotility agents, antisecretory agents, bismuth subsalicylate, diet, intravenous rehydration, nasogastric tube rehydration, and oral rehydration solutions (amino acid oral rehydration solution, bicarbonate oral rehydration solution, reduced osmolarity oral rehydration solution, rice-based oral rehydration solution, standard oral rehydration solution).
de Bruyn
Guy
G
Perinatal HIV Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand, Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa.
D000208:Acute Disease; D000284:Administration, Oral; D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000188:drug therapy; D005440:Fluid Therapy; D005765:Gastrointestinal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D014195:Travel
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D005765:Gastrointestinal Agents