Patients received 1 capsule of Saccharomyces boulardii 250 ug BID plus dietary advice for 15 days. Dietary advice consisted of a low fermentation diet which was delivered as a written list of food and beverages that patients should avoid adapted to local habits and an oral explanation by a health professional.

Patients received dietary advice for 15 days. Dietary advice consisted of a low fermentation diet which was delivered as a written list of food and beverages that patients should avoid adapted to local habits and an oral explanation by a health professional.

Probiotic yeast in capsules

The IBS Symptom Severity Scale (IBS-SSS) is a validated questionnaire (Francis et al. 1997) that evaluates the intensity of the following IBS symptoms: abdominal pain, distension, stool frequency and consistency, and general impact on life. The IBS-SSS calculates the sum of these 5 items (each scored on a visual analogue scale from 0 to 100) and the score values range from 0 to 500 (maximum severity). An IBS-SSS questionnaire was filled-in by each randomized patient at both visits. We compared the difference between the overall score before and after the intervention.

Presence of bacterial overgrowth was examined by a lactulose hydrogen breath test (LHBT), which measures hydrogen concentration within the expelled breath.

Patients ingested 10 mL lactulose, then breath samples were collected every 20 minutes over 180 min and analyzed to determine hydrogen concentration. An excreted hydrogen concentration/time area under the curve (AUC) was then calculated. A positive test corresponded to any of the following results: rise in breath hydrogen at least 20 ppm above basal levels within 100 minutes after ingestion of lactulose; rise at least 12 ppm within100 minutes with a decrease of 5 ppm (markers of SIBO) and subsequent increase; (AUC) value of more than 3000 ppm. Changes in terms of absolute hydrogen excretion measured by AUC of hydrogen excretion over time were compared before and after intervention in every patient.