BMJ  2004;328:956-957 (17 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7445.956-d

Letter

Dicycloverine for persistent crying in babies

Authors' reply

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—We thank Goldman and Steinhertz for their helpful comments. Neither of us uses dicycloverine (dicyclomine) in managing babies with persistent crying, but, given that our article aimed to provide, as far as possible, an evidence linked summary of the evidence for managing persistent crying, we thought it important to mention the evidence underpinning treatment with dicycloverine.

Two systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials have shown that dicycloverine is of benefit in infants with colic related persistent crying. The first review pooled results from five trials containing a total of 134 infants (age range 1-14 weeks) and found that dicycloverine was significantly more effective than placebo in reducing crying (standardised mean difference 0.46, 95% confidence interval 0.33 to 0.60).1

The second systematic review identified three randomised controlled trials included in the first review2; although results were not pooled, the authors came to a broadly similar conclusion about the . . . [Full text of this article]

A R Gatrad, consultant paediatrician

Manor Hospital, Walsall NHS Trust, Walsall WS2 2PS drgatrad@hotmail.com

Aziz Sheikh, professor of primary care research and development

Division of Community Health Sciences: General Practice Section, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH16 6YR


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