Antibiotics Could Up
Intestinal Risk in Children
Excerpt By Merritt McKinney, Reuters Health

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Infants and young children who take antibiotics may have an increased risk of developing a rare type of intestinal blockage, according to a new study.

The results of the study do not prove that antibiotics cause the complication, known as intussusception. The researchers think that antibiotics may be just one of several factors that contribute to intestinal blockage in young children.

However, the findings may provide another reason to use antibiotics sparingly, the lead author of the study told Reuters Health.

"This is the first preliminary study to describe that antibiotic use may be a risk factor in the development of intussusception, the most common form of intestinal obstruction in young children ages 3 months to 6 years," Dr. David M. Spiro said.

The results of the study "should reinforce the need for both parents and physicians of young children to wisely use antibiotics only when absolutely necessary," said Spiro, who is at Children's Hospital of Alabama in Birmingham.

Intussusception is the number one cause of intestinal blockage in young children, but what causes the condition is a bit of a mystery. Roughly 1 in 5,000 babies in the US develop intussusception, according to one study.

Since antibiotics can affect the workings of the gut, Spiro and his colleagues set out to see whether antibiotic use influences the risk of intussusception, something that had not been done before.

The researchers compared 93 children who developed intussusception with a "control" group of 353 children treated for injuries.

Children who took antibiotics were about four times more likely to develop the intestinal obstruction than children who did not take the medications, the researchers report in the January issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. The risk was greatest--more than 20 times higher--in children who had been prescribed a class of antibiotics called cephalosporins.

About one in four children had taken an antibiotic, most often for the ear infection otitis media, within 48 hours of developing the obstruction.

Spiro and his colleagues note that more research is needed to prove that antibiotics cause the condition, however.

SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 2003;157:54-59.

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