Can Probiotics Play a Major Role as an Adjunctive Therapy in Treatment of Bacterial Vaginosis?

Abstract

Background: Bacterial Vaginosis is one of the most common causes of abnormal vaginal discharge in women of reproductive age, which can have a major impact on quality of life. Although the treatment course of oral metronidazole for 7 days results in curative rate of 70%–80% at four weeks of treatment, but is associated with high rates of recurrence occurred within twelve months, reaching up to 40%–50%. Methods: A Randomized Prospective Interventional Study was done on 1000 reproductive age group females (pregnant or non-pregnant) diagnosed with bacterial vaginosis from November 2020 to October 2022 at department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Kanpur. The study group were divided into two subgroups - Group 1 were given metronidazole 500 mg for 7 days and probiotics for 14 days and group 2 were given metronidazole 500 mg for 7 days and placebo for 14 days. The patients were followed after 3 months to know the recurrence. Results: Majority of patients belonged to rural background (63.1%) with lower socioeconomic (46.6%) and belong to age group 20-35 years. It was observed that there was significant change in Amsel’s criteria and Nugent’s scoring in Group 1 as compared to Group 2. The rate of recurrence at the end of the treatment for Amsel’s criteria in group 1 were 1.03 as compared to group 2 was 1.68 and for Nugent’s scoring, the rate of recurrence at the end of treatment in group 1 was 3.17 as compared to group 2 was 4.78. Conclusion: Probiotics can be considered as one the adjuvant therapy for treating bacterial vaginosis and re-establishing equilibrium in the vaginal microflora thus, preventing the recurrences.