Occurrence of Infantile Colic and Treatment Effectiveness of Conventional Treatment

Open Access

Abstract

Background: Infantile colic is a common condition that involves excessive, unexplained crying in healthy infants that may be distressing to the family. There is limited data on its occurrence and effectiveness of conventional treatments in clinical setting in Bangladesh. Objective: To assess the incidence of infantile colic in a sample of infants attending a hospital, and to measure the effectiveness of traditional treatment measures. Methods & Materials: Prospective cohort study was performed at Shaheed Quazi Robee Rahman BGB Hospital, Chuadanga, Dhaka, Bangladesh from October 2025 to March 2026. Forty-three infants meeting inclusion criteria for a diagnosis of "colic" were recruited using purposive sampling. All participants were given conventional treatment (parental reassurance, dietary changes and simethicone drops). Structured interviews and follow up diaries were used to gather the data for four weeks. Duration and the frequency of crying was recorded at baseline and following the intervention. The data obtained were analysed by SPSS version 23.0. Result: Infants who were screened reported 18.7% of infantile colic. The mean duration of daily crying significantly decreased from 3.2 (±0.8) hours to 1.1 (±0.6) hours (p<0.001), and the number of daily crying episodes decreased from 5.4 (±1.3) to 1.9 (±1.0) (p<0.001) after conventional treatment. There was a positive treatment response in 95.3% of the cohort and no serious adverse events were reported. Conclusion: Infantile colic was a fairly common condition. Overall, the treatment protocol was effective and safe, and could be adopted in normal pediatric care in Bangladesh to reduce crying symptoms, thereby reducing infant and family distress.