Comparative Study Into the Efficacy of Loperamide and/or Smecta for Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome

To evaluate the efficacy of loperamide and Smecta for diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndorome (IBS), ninety patients were randomly divided into three groups. The regimens were loperamide 2 mg once daily in group A, smecta 3 g thrice daily in group C. Each patient was treated for two weeks to observe the changes of symptoms including the consistency of feces, frequency of defecation, the degree of abdominal pain and distension. The results showed that the total effective rates of group A, B and C at 2 weeks were 80%, 83% and 90%, respectively. The response rates and total effective rates at 3 days in group A and C were significantly higher than those for group B (P0.05). The recurrence rates of group A, B and C within 4 weeks after therapy were 45.83%, 16% and 14.8%, respectively and those of group B and C were much less than those of group A (P0.05). The study indicated that both loperamide and smecta are effective in treating diarrhea-predominant IBS. Loperamide acts more rapidly and smecta's action lasts longer. The combination therapy of loperamide and smecta for diarrhea-predominant IBS is reasonable, especially for the servers cases, to achieve the effects of more rapid recovery and less recurrence.