Oral charcoal for accidental gluten ingestion for children with coeliac disease
Date First Published:
January 28, 2017
Last Updated:
February 8, 2017
Report by:
Dr Peter Hulme, Consultant Emergency Medicine (Manchester Royal Infirmary)
Search checked by:
Laura Howard, Manchester Royal Infirmary
Three-Part Question:
In [children with coelaic disease and accidental gluten ingestion] does [oral charcoal] [reduce symptoms of coeliac disease]
Clinical Scenario:
An 8 year boy with coeliac disease has eaten a biscuit at a friends birthday party. His mother has brought him to A+E because she has read on a coelaic disease support forum that charcoal can reduce the risk abdominal pains and diarrhoea.
Search Strategy:
Database: Ovid MEDLINE(R) Epub Ahead of Print, In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE(R) Daily and Ovid MEDLINE(R) 1946 to Presentt
Search Details:
1 exp Charcoal/ (8467)
2 charcoal.ti,ab. (9718)
3 1 or 2 (14646)
4 exp Glutens/ (7409)
5 exp Glutens/ or exp Celiac Disease/ or exp Diet, Gluten-Free/ (21291)
6 gluten.mp. and sensitivity.ti,ab. [mp=title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, keyword heading word, protocol supplementary concept word, rare disease supplementary concept word, unique identifier, synonyms] (1029)
7 coeliac.ti,ab. (7251)
8 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 (23741)
9 3 and 8 (4)
2 charcoal.ti,ab. (9718)
3 1 or 2 (14646)
4 exp Glutens/ (7409)
5 exp Glutens/ or exp Celiac Disease/ or exp Diet, Gluten-Free/ (21291)
6 gluten.mp. and sensitivity.ti,ab. [mp=title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, keyword heading word, protocol supplementary concept word, rare disease supplementary concept word, unique identifier, synonyms] (1029)
7 coeliac.ti,ab. (7251)
8 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 (23741)
9 3 and 8 (4)
Outcome:
4 papers of which none answered the clinical questions
Author Commentary:
There is no published peer-reviewed evidence to support the use of charcoal in patients who have accidentally ingested gluten.
Bottom Line:
There is no evidence that charcoal reduces the symptoms of accidental gluten ingestion in coeliacs.