Purpose: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is one of the most common vaginal complaints of women of reproductive age, characterized by a shift from a Lactobacillus-dominated vaginal microbiome towards a more diverse flora of facultative and obligately anaerobic bacteria. BV can increase the risk of preterm births, contracting sexually transmitted infections and developing other chronic health issues. Standard treatment for BV are antibiotics, however despite initial efficacy, they do not provide effective long-term treatment and recurrence or persistence prevention. This systematic review focuses on describing the current study situation and summarizing the newest data on the efficacy of alternative non-antibiotic options, namely probiotic products containing lactobacilli, lactic acid, sucrose gel, combination products with estriol, and supplementation of antibiotics.
Methods: We conducted a systematic literature search using the MEDLINE database and evaluated the 33 trials which met our inclusion criteria.
Conclusion: The diverse study designs produced extremely varied outcomes, but so far the results are promising. Furthermore, these alternatives have shown little to no adverse effects and are consequently generally considered safe to use. In general, the results of this review warrant more thorough trials with larger cohort sizes to provide sufficient evidence for these alternatives to be a part of official treatment recommendations.
Keywords: Bacterial vaginosis; Lactobacillus; Probiotics; Treatment.