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Effect of Green Banana (Musa paradisiaca) on Recovery in Children With Acute Watery Diarrhea With No Dehydration: A Randomized Controlled Trial

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Abstract

Background

Cooked green banana (Musa paradisiaca) has been observed to be useful in reducing the duration of diarrheal illness in children.

Objective

To evaluate whether supplementation of cooked green banana shortens the duration of diarrhea in children with acute watery diarrhea with no dehydration.

Study design

Open label randomized controlled trial.

Participants

Consecutive children aged 9 months to 5 years who presented with acute watery diarrhea within 48 hours of onset of illness with no dehydration.

Intervention

Children in the control group received standard care, while those in the intervention group received cooked green banana in addition to standard care under supervision in the hospital for 72 hours, and then continued at home until diarrhea stopped or 14th day of illness, whichever is earlier.

Outcome measures

Proportion of children who improved at 72 hours of intervention (passing formed stools with normal frequency) was considered as the primary outcome and the incidence of complications such as dehydration, persistent diarrhea and secondary lactose intolerance were evaluated as the secondary outcomes.

Results

The proportion of children who recovered within 72 hours was significantly higher (62.4%) in the green banana group compared to the control group (47.2%) [RR 1.3 (95% CI 1.05–1.7), NNT=7]. The number of children with complications such as dehydration and persistent diarrhea was also signi-ficantly less in the intervention group.

Conclusion

Supplementation of cooked green banana in the diet of children with acute watery diarrhea with no dehydration hastens their recovery.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Puducherry, India

    Dhandapany Gunasekaran, Anandhi Chandramohan, Kadirvel Karthikeyan, Banupriya Balasubramaniam, Podhini Jagadeesan & Palanisamy Soundararajan

Authors
  1. Dhandapany Gunasekaran
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  2. Anandhi Chandramohan
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  3. Kadirvel Karthikeyan
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  4. Banupriya Balasubramaniam
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  5. Podhini Jagadeesan
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  6. Palanisamy Soundararajan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dhandapany Gunasekaran.

Additional information

Ethical clearance

Institutional ethics committee of MGMCRI, Puducherry; ECR/451/Inst/PO/2013/RR-16 dated 08/06/2016.

Contributors

DG, AC: conceptualized, designed the study and finalized the manuscript; KK, BB, PJ, PS: collected, compiled the data and helped in analyzing and drafting the manuscript. All have approved the final draft.

Funding

None

Competing interests

None stated.

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Gunasekaran, D., Chandramohan, A., Karthikeyan, K. et al. Effect of Green Banana (Musa paradisiaca) on Recovery in Children With Acute Watery Diarrhea With No Dehydration: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Indian Pediatr 57, 1114–1118 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-020-2063-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-020-2063-8

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