[Clinical experience on the use of formulas for cow's milk protein allergy in Pediatric consultations].

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the use of extensively hydrolyzed formulas (eHF) and hydrolyzed rice formulas (HRF) for the management of cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA) in Pediatric consultations from Primary Care of Spain, paying special attention to their impact on digestive symptoms.

DESIGN

NOVA-ALLERGY was an ecological, descriptive, and multicenter study of national scope.

LOCATION: Pediatric consultations from Primary Care across 17 Autonomous Communities in Spain.

PARTICIPANTS

300 healthcare professionals (Pediatrics or Family Medicine).

INTERVENTIONS: Specifically designed questionnaire.

MAIN MEASUREMENTS: The aggregated data derived from the experience of the healthcare professionals on their last 6 infants they attended in their consultations with suspicion or diagnosis of CMPA and received an eHF and/or HRF for its management.

RESULTS

Infants prescribed an eHF or HRF as the first option were predominantly between 0 and 6months of age and had mild-moderate symptom severity. Main symptoms of CMPA were digestive. At the follow-up visit, infants showed an improvement of the digestive symptoms, such as blood in stools, food refusal, dysphagia, diarrhea, vomiting, colic, abdominal distension, or frequent regurgitation.

CONCLUSIONS

In accordance with recommendations from clinical guidelines, eHFs are the first treatment option for mild and moderate cases of CMPA. Nevertheless, this present study also confirms the use of HRFs as first treatment option. Both eHFs and HRFs are associated with an improvement of the digestive symptoms in CMPA.