Can I give anti-diarrhoeal drugs to a child with diarrhoea?
These agents, though commonly used, have no practical benefit and are never indicated for the treatment of acute diarrhoea in children. Some of them are dangerous. Products in this category include: Adsorbents (e.g. kaolin, attapulgite, smectite, activated charcoal, cholestyramine). These drugs are promoted for the treatment of diarrhoea on the basis of their claimed ability to bind and inactivate bacterial toxins or other substances that cause diarrhoea, and their claim to “protect” the intestinal mucosa. None, however, has proven effective or practical in the routine treatment of acute diarrhoea in children. Antimotility drugs (e.g. loperamide hydrochloride, diphenoxylate with atropine, tincture of opium, camphorated tincture of opium, paregoric, codeine). These opiate or opiate-like drugs inhibit intestinal motility and may reduce the frequency of stool passage in adults. However, they do not appreciably decrease the volume of stool in young children. Moreover, they can cause severe
