PP145 - EVALUATING THE EFFICACY OF A BANANA-BASED, PREBIOTIC-ENHANCED MODULAR IN MITIGATING DIARRHEA IN CRITICALLY ILL ADULTS

PP145

EVALUATING THE EFFICACY OF A BANANA-BASED, PREBIOTIC-ENHANCED MODULAR IN MITIGATING DIARRHEA IN CRITICALLY ILL ADULTS

J. Schulz^1,*, M. Brown¹, K. Koons², W. Dahl²

¹Food and Nutrition, University of Florida Health, ²Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Florida, Gainesville, United States

Rationale: Soluble fiber is commonly recommended to improve diarrhea in critically ill adults receiving enteral nutrition (EN). A banana-based modular containing a galactooligosaccharide prebiotic (Banatrol) is used for this purpose, though supporting evidence is limited.

Methods: This retrospective chart review evaluated whether the modular was effective in mitigating diarrhea in critically ill adults at a tertiary care facility with 240 intensive care unit beds. Adults (>18 years) who received EN and the modular between February 2023 and November 2025 were included (n=326). Diarrhea severity was quantified during the 7 days prior to (baseline) and the 7 days following (post-intervention) modular initiation. Diarrhea severity was classified as none, mild, moderate, or severe based on stool frequency or output volume.

Results: A paired t-test revealed no statistically significant difference in days with moderate or severe diarrhea between baseline and post-intervention periods (3.60 vs. 3.46 days; p=0.233). Diarrhea severity peaked on Day -1 of the baseline period, suggesting symptoms were improving prior to initiation of the modular. A similar trend was observed in patients with Clostridioides difficile infection (n=27). Multivariate correlation analysis revealed that receiving more doses of the modular was associated with higher post-intervention diarrhea severity scores despite comparable baseline diarrhea severity scores.

Conclusion: In this cohort of critically ill adults receiving EN, initiation of a banana-based modular was not associated with a meaningful reduction in diarrhea severity. These findings suggest the perceived benefit of this intervention may reflect a natural resolution of diarrhea rather than a treatment effect. Prospective, controlled trials are needed to more rigorously evaluate the efficacy of this product.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared