A new study published in Clinical and Research in Hepatology and Gastroenterology assessed the effectiveness of Lactobacillus reuteri DSM 17938 as an adjunct to polyethylene glycol (PEG) in the treatment of functional, intractable constipation in children. In this study, children were randomly divided into two groups to either receive L. reuteri DSM 17938 and PEG or PEG and matching placebo, for 8 weeks. Overall, 121 pediatric patients completed the study. A majority of the patients in both groups had increased bowel movements and there was no statistically significant difference in the number of bowel movements per week at week-8 between the study and the placebo groups. In addition, there were no significant differences between groups in the number of patients complaining of pain during defecation, abdominal pain, withholding stools, passing hard stools or large stools, and fecal incontinence. Hence, it was concluded that L. reuteri DSM 17938 supplementation as an additional therapy to PEG did not have any beneficial effect on the treatment of functional constipation in children aged 3-7 years.