Peppermint oil, sweets of little benefit in paediatric IBS and functional abdominal pain

Peppermint oil or peppermint sweets appear to do little in terms of relieving pain in children with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or functional abdominal pain–not otherwise specified, as shown in a study.

A total of 228 children (65.4 percent female) ages 8–18 years with IBS or functional abdominal pain–not otherwise specified. Of the children, 93 were in the 8–11-year age group and 135 were in the 12–18-year age group.

The children were randomly assigned to receive peppermint oil capsules containing 182 mg of peppermint oil, open-label peppermint sweets containing 9.2 mg of peppermint oil, or placebo containing 2 mg of peppermint oil (to enhance blinding). Treatment was administered twice daily for patients ages 8–11 years or three times daily for those ages 12–18 years for a total of 8 weeks, with dose escalation if needed. The 8-week treatment period was followed by a 4-week follow-up.

The primary endpoint of treatment success was defined as a ≥30-percent reduction in abdominal pain intensity after 8 weeks. The secondary endpoint was adequate relief of symptoms.

At week 8, the number of patients achieving treatment success was similar across the three treatment groups: 44 percent with peppermint oil, 38.7 percent with peppermint sweets, and 37.3 percent with placebo (peppermint oil vs placebo: odds ratio [OR], 1.33, 97.5 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.58–3.09, p=0.44; peppermint sweets vs placebo: OR, 1.05, 97.5 percent CI, 0.45–2.44, p=0.91).

Adequate relief occurred in 53.3 percent of patients in the peppermint oil group, 44.9 percent in the peppermint sweets group, and 49.3 percent in the placebo group (peppermint oil vs placebo: OR, 1.15, 97.5 percent CI, 0.54–2.47, p=0.68; peppermint sweets vs placebo: OR, 0.81, 97.5 percent CI, 0.39-1.71; p=0.53).

Adverse events were mild and infrequent.