Probiotic administration and the incidence of nosocomial infection in pediatric intensive care: a randomized placebo-controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of probiotics in reducing the rates of nosocomial infection in pediatric intensive care. DESIGN: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING: A 16-bed pediatric intensive care unit in a university-affiliated children's hospital. PATIENTS: Sixty-one pediatric patients were enrolled from April 2004 until December 2004. Screening of all patients admitted occurred on a daily basis. Patients were excluded if they had the following: evidence/suspicion of intestinal perforation, evidence/suspicion of mechanical gastrointestinal obstruction, absolute neutrophil count