Systematic review and meta‐analysis: efficacy of peppermint oil in irritable bowel syndrome

What this study found

Peppermint oil was superior to placebo for improving global IBS symptoms and abdominal pain, but the overall evidence quality was very low. Across seven studies reporting adverse events, 58 (17.1%) of 340 participants assigned to peppermint oil experienced any adverse event versus 46 (12.1%) of 380 assigned to placebo, for a relative risk of 1.57 (95% CI 1.04-2.37). The review also noted substantial heterogeneity and some negative trials, so the benefit should be interpreted cautiously. The authors concluded that larger, rigorous randomized trials are still needed, including evaluation in…

Study & population

Systematic review and meta-analysis of adults with irritable bowel syndrome of any subtype, diagnosed clinically or by standard criteria, across primary, secondary, and tertiary care settings.

Intervention

Oral peppermint oil was evaluated across 10 randomized placebo-controlled trials, most commonly as small intestinal-release formulations such as Mintoil, Colpermin, IBgard, Pepogest, or Tempocol.

Key limitation

The evidence was rated very low quality, with substantial heterogeneity across trials and some negative studies.

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