Recurrent Abdominal Pain in Children

March 4, 2016 updated by: Robert Shulman, M.D., Baylor College of Medicine

The purpose of this study is to:

  1. To determine if fiber versus placebo improves symptoms in children with recurrent abdominal pain/irritable bowel syndrome.
  2. To determine possible ways fiber or placebo improve(s) symptoms in children with recurrent abdominal pain/irritable bowel syndrome by carrying out gastrointestinal tests and questionnaires.

Understanding how diet and fiber affect GI function potentially will benefit the large numbers of children with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and provide insight into prevention of IBS in at risk children. We expect that the results from these studies can be used to lessen significantly the huge financial burden to society caused by these chronic conditions.

Consent will be obtained from the parent/guardian and assent from the child.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Children with recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) who meet the criteria for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) will be recruited and studied. They will have been diagnosed by a pediatric gastroenterologist and will have had at least one healthcare visits in the past year for the complaint of abdominal pain.

Coordinators will come out to the family's home on an evening that is convenient. Both the parent and child will fill out some questionnaires. Next, the parent and child will get instructions on how to fill out a diary to record any stomach pain the child is having and what their stools look like. The child will also collect a stool sample during the regular diet and diary collection period. Once the child has completed the diary, the child will go on a special diet for eight days to remove foods that may cause stomach pain (foods and drinks containing lactose, fructose, and sorbitol will be eliminated).

Two weeks later, the coordinators will come out to the family's home again to review the pain and stool diary that the child kept while on the special diet. The coordinators will explain how to collect some samples of urine, stool, and breath. These tests will evaluate the gastrointestinal (GI) tract for inflammation and transit time. If the special diet does not make the stomach pain go away, the child will be selected at random, like the flip of a coin, to be placed in one of two groups: one group that receives fiber or one group that receives a placebo or sugar pill. Fiber has been suggested to help children with stomach pain.

After the child has been on the treatment for 6 weeks, he/she will keep another diary and collect another set of samples of urine, stool, and breath.

The children will be followed at 3 months, 6 months and 18 months after the treatment period.

Children will be asked to collect additional stools

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
168

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Texas
      • Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
        • Texas Children's Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

7 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Children who have had at least one physician visit in the past year for abdominal pain or IBS symptoms.
  • Children with recurrent abdominal pain who meet the criteria for irritable bowel syndrome.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Children who have another disease that accounts for stomach pain
  • Current use of anti-inflammatory medication
  • Children taking a GI medication that makes pain go away completely
  • Children with other chronic conditions including chronic pain conditions (e.g. heart condition, diabetes)
  • Children who have decreased growth
  • GI blood loss
  • Unexplained fever
  • Chronic severe diarrhea
  • Weight loss of > or = to 5% of body weight within 3 month prior to enrollment
  • History of abdominal surgeries
  • A history of suicide
  • Cognitive impairment significantly below average age and/or grade level
  • Non-English speaking parent or child
  • Vomiting >2x/month
  • Children currently in psychotherapy for abdominal pain.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Fiber
Fiber added to diet for a total of 6 weeks.
Behavioral: Elimination Diet
Daily diet change for 8 days.
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
Placebo powder taken for a total of 6 weeks.
Behavioral: Elimination Diet
Daily diet change for 8 days.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Improvement in pain and stooling symptoms
Time Frame: The last two weeks of treatment and up to 18 months after treatment
The last two weeks of treatment and up to 18 months after treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Child anxiety, somatization, and coping
Time Frame: Four weeks prior to treatment and 6 months after treatment
Four weeks prior to treatment and 6 months after treatment
Parental somatization, coping, and illness interaction
Time Frame: Four weeks prior to treatment and 6 months after treatment
Four weeks prior to treatment and 6 months after treatment
Changes in GI Transit time
Time Frame: Prior to and after treatment
Prior to and after treatment
Changes in Breath Hydrogen production
Time Frame: Prior to and after treatment
Prior to and after treatment
Changes in GI Permeability
Time Frame: Prior to and after treatment
Prior to and after treatment
Changes in fecal calprotectin concentration
Time Frame: Prior to and after treatment
Prior to and after treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Baylor College of Medicine

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Robert Shulman, Baylor College of Medicine

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 1, 2009

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
March 1, 2014

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
March 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
September 6, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 7, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
September 10, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
March 8, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 4, 2016

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
March 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 17388
  • R01NR005337 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Clinical Trials on Elimination Diet

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings