Clinical characteristics of rotavirus enteritis were evaluated by comparison with acute diarrhea of other etiologies. We reviewed the medical records of children (aged 0-12 months) admitted with acute diarrhea in our hospital between January and December 2011. Of the 839 patients, 49.3% had rotavirus diarrhea. The incidence of severe disease was significantly higher for rotavirus diarrhea (65.2%, P < 0.01) than for other types of diarrheal disease.

Background: Endotracheal tube (ETT) is an important risk factor for the development of Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), as it acts as a reservoir for infectious microorganisms and bypasses the host’s defenses. One of the preventive measures for VAP is endotracheal tube composition. It has been reported that biofilm formation is reduced by using ETTs coated with pure silver or silver compounds. However, noble metal-alloy ETTs have not been adequately studied. Aims: To evaluate the efficacy of noble metal alloy ETT (coated Bactiguard Infection Protection ETTs) in preventing VAP compared to standard non-coated ETTs in patients requiring ≥ 48 hours of mechanical ventilation and presenting for coma due to drug intoxication. Study Design: Randomized controlled study. Methods: Participants were randomized using sealed envelopes with a concealed 1:1 allocation to either the intervention group or the control group. The intervention group used a noble metal–alloy ETT, while the control group received standard ETT. The primary outcomes were the incidence of VAP (per ventilated patients) and the duration of mechanical ventilation. Results: Initially, a total of 188 patients were assessed for eligibility, and the final allocation group consisted of 180 patients, who were subsequently randomized into the intervention group (n = 97) and control group (n = 83). The incidence of VAP in the intervention and control groups was 27.83% and 43.16% ( P = 0.03), and the VAP ratio per 1000 ventilation days was 51.26/1000 and 83.38/1000 ( P = 0.01), respectively. The mean durations of mechanical ventilation were 3.2 ± 0.78 in the intervention group and 5.03 ± 1.88 in the control group ( P = 0.22). There was no statistically significant difference between groups in terms of mortality and duration of hospital stay. Conclusion: Noble metal-alloy ETT reduces the incidence of VAP, ventilation days, and ICU stay for patients in mechanical ventilation.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a term that covers a multitude of techniques that are used in a manner that tries to reproduce human intelligence. AI is helpful in various medical specialties that use imaging for diagnostic purposes, and gastroenterology is no exception. In this field, AI has several applications, such as detecting and classifying polyps, detecting the malignancy in polyps, diagnosing Helicobacter pylori infection, gastritis, inflammatory bowel disease, gastric cancer, esophageal neoplasia, and pancreatic and hepatic lesions. The aim of this mini-review is to analyze the currently available studies regarding AI in the field of gastroenterology and hepatology and to discuss its main applications as well as its main limitations.

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(1) Background: Functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPDs) represent one of the main etiologies of chronic abdominal pain in the pediatric population. A wide spectrum of probiotic or prebiotic mixtures has been evaluated in trials regarding benefits in patients with FAPDs, mainly in the adult population. (2) Methods: This study was interested in evaluating the effect of oral supplementation with a symbiotic mixture on intestinal microbiota in children with functional dyspepsia (FD), irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D), and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C). A combination of six bacterial strains (Lactobacillus rhamnosus R0011, Lactibacillus casei R0215, Bifidobacterium lactis BI-04, Lactobacillus acidophilus La-14, Bifidobacterium longum BB536, Lactobacillus plantarum R1012) and 210 mg of fructo-oligosaccharides-inulin were administered orally, daily, for 12 weeks and patients were scored for severity of symptoms and fecal microbiota before and after the treatment. (3) Results: The proportion of patients with adequate symptom relief was higher in the IBS-D than in the IBS-C group; however, the difference was not statistically significant (74.4% vs. 61.9%, p = 0.230). There was an increasing proportion of bacterial genera associated with health benefits, for both IBS-C and IBS-D (IBS-C: 31.1 ± 16.7% vs. 47.7 ± 13.5%, p = 0.01; IBS-D: 35.8 ± 16.2% vs. 44.1 ± 15.1%, p = 0.01). (4) Conclusions: Administration of a symbiotic preparation resulted in significant changes to the microbiota and gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with FAPDs.

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