Efficacy of Open Label Placebo in Children With FGIDs

Boston Children's Hospital31 enrolled

Overview

This study is aimed at investigating the efficacy of placebo for symptom relief in children with abdominal pain related functional gastrointestinal disorders.

The purpose of this research study is to see if prescribing an open label placebo to children with functional gastrointestinal disorders will help improve symptoms and their overall quality of life. Open label means you/your child are aware you are taking liquid placebo drops and not an active medication. Symptoms associated with functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) of children and adolescents are commonly encountered symptoms in general pediatrics and pediatric gastroenterology. The FGIDs the investigators are studying include functional abdominal pain, irritable bowel syndrome, and functional dyspepsia. The liquid placebo drops contain no active medication. Recent research studies have shown improvement in gastrointestinal symptoms after taking liquid placebo drops in both children and adults with FGIDs. A randomized research study for a medication used to treat children with FGIDs showed a very significant placebo effect, meaning patients receiving placebo also experienced improvement in their symptoms. Randomized refers to the fact that subjects were randomly selected to receive either the study medication or placebo. A recent adult study gave adult patients a placebo and told them it was a placebo, and these adults also had significant symptom improvement. The goal of this study is to further explore using open label (or non-deceptive) placebo use to treat children with FGIDs.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Functional Abdominal Pain Functional Dyspepsia Irritable Bowel Syndrome Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders

Interventions

Placebo SuspensionOTHER

The study is divided into three phases: 1 one-week baseline assessment followed by 2 three-week study phases (phase A and phase B). Phase A will require subjects to take 1/4 teaspoon placebo suspension 2 times a day (morning and night), and a third dose if necessary. In phase B subjects will not take the placebo. After 3 weeks in initial phase (either Phase A or B), subjects will switch to the alternate phase and continue the study for another 3 weeks. Hyoscyamine is available as a rescue medication during Phase A and Phase B. Half of the subjects will be randomized to begin with Phase A and half will be randomized to begin with Phase B.

HyoscyamineDRUG

While not an intervention of interest to our study, patients will have hyoscyamine available as a rescue medication throughout the study. This can be taken on a PRN basis for breakthrough pain a maximum of 4x daily.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 8 YearsMax age: 21 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age 8 to 21 years. 2. Diagnosis of functional abdominal pain, irritable bowel syndrome or functional dyspepsia made by a pediatric gastroenterologist according to Rome III Criteria. 3. Mean daily intensity of pain of 25 mm in the week prior to the initiation of the study, based on the Visual Analogue Scale 4. Children will not be excluded if they are adhering to any specific diet. Children will be asked to report any specific established diet prior to the study or dietary modifications that could have been made during the course of the study. 5. Normal laboratory tests including complete blood count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, albumin, serum amylase, lipase, liver enzymes, urine analysis, stool examination for occult blood and ova and parasites one month prior the initiation of the study. Urinary culture will be obtained if the symptoms or urinalysis suggest the possibility of a urinary infection. 6. Normal lactose breath test or history of lack of resolution of symptoms on a lactose-free diet (2 weeks). 7. Patients receiving psychological treatment, hypnosis, biofeedback or guided imagery will not be excluded of the study if those were started at least one month prior to the initiation of the study and are not planned to be discontinued during the length of the trial. Patients will need to be prescribed hyoscyamine (clinically indicated) to be considered for this study, as the placebo will be in addition to their prescribed medication. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Inclusion criteria not met. 2. Evidence of organic gastrointestinal disease, hepatic disorders, urinary or cardiac disease. 3. Children below the 5th percentile for weight or height. 4. Hemoccult positive stools. 5. Patients with diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, hyperthyroidism, CHF, cardiac arrhythmias, prostatic hypertrophy, autonomic neuropathy, biliary tract disease, children with spastic paralysis or chronic lung disease (we will consult a pulmonologist concerning the inclusion of children with chronic lung disease). 6. Patients who are taking any of the following drugs: AbobotulinumtoxinA, Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors (Central), Cannabinoids, OnabotulinumtoxinA, Potassium Chloride, Pramlintide, RimabotulinumtoxinB, Secretin. Patients receiving antidepressant or anticholinergic drugs will be excluded from the study. PPIs will be allowed as long as the patient had been on a stable dose for at least 12 weeks. 7. Patients planning to change their diet during the time of the study will be excluded. Children will be asked to report any specific established diet prior to the study or dietary modifications that could have been made during the course of the study. 8. Patients planning to start psychological treatment, hypnosis, biofeedback, or guided imagery during the course of the study or have started any of these within the month prior to consent. 9. The participant is pregnant or is planning to become pregnant throughout the course of the research study

Locations (1)

Boston Children's Hospital

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

The Primary Outcome Measure Was Mean Daily Pain

Change in mean pain score comparing both treatment arms to the baseline using the Visual analogue scale. (Scale 0-100mm) The scale reflects severity of the pain going from no pain (0) to maximum pain (100mm). Therefore the higher the number the more severe the pain is

Time frame: It will be assessed at the end of the 3-week and 6-week treatment periods (at the end of each treatment arm prior to crossover to the next arm of treatment)

Secondary Outcomes

Use of Rescue Medications

The number of medications used as rescue during each one of the periods of the study were counted

Time frame: 3 weeks of placebo vs 3 weeks of no treatment

Clinical Global Improvement

Compared clinical global improvement during each phase of the study The following question was used: Overall, how do you feel your problem is? (better, same, or worse)." Patients were then divided in 2 groups: improved (if they answered better) vs not improved (if they answered same/worse)

Time frame: Following 1-week baseline and 3-week and 6-week treatment periods

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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