Infantile Colic: An Update

Abstract

Context: Infantile colic is self-limiting condition but it can be a cause of anxiety for parents and challenge for doctors. The challenge for the doctors lies in correct identification of the condition and appropriate management. The objective of this review article is to summarize the pathophysiology, treatment options and outcome in infantile colic so that clinicians can have a fair idea about the condition, recent updates and future prospects.

Evidence: A search of the Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Google Scholar was made using the key words "Infant colic", Infantile colic", "excessive crying in infants". All the materials were analyzed and summarized.

Results: At present, infantile colic is an area of clinical research both in terms of etiology and treatment. Various etiological theories have been proposed but none of them are strong enough to completely describe the condition. Various treatment agents are being tried for colic like counseling and behavioral modification, dietary modification, lactase and probiotic supplementation, pain relieving agents, and chiropathy. Proper counseling of the parents is the first line of management at present. Simethicone has no role in decreasing the symptoms of colic and Dicyclomine is not recommended in children younger than six months. No specific recommendations have been made on the use of pain relieving agents and manipulative therapies in colic. At present strong evidence is lacking regarding the use of probiotics, lactase supplementation and dietary modification.

Conclusions: Counseling of parents about the benign nature of the condition is considered first line for now until an effective treatment is established. Other treatment options are prescribed on a case-based manner, and based on the parental perception of the condition.