The effectivity of probiotics containing lactic acid that produce bacteria for the prevention of diarrhea in pigs during the post-weaning period was evaluated. The results of different authors were contradictory from no effectivity to significant effectivity. However they were never as satisfactory as in the case of antimicrobial growth promoters. The addition of probiotic bacterial cultures to prebiotics, such as fructooligosacharides, mannanooligosacharides and galactooligosacharides, improved the effectivity of probiotics to some extent. As a possible replacement of antimicrobial growth promoters competitive exclusion was also assessed through the use of non pathogenic bacteria with fimbriae blocking receptors of the enterocytes of the intestinal epithelial layer. Besides such bacterial cultures, isolated lectins of the same structure as fimbrial lectins and with the same affinity to the receptors of enterocytes were also evaluated. According to the cited publications positive effects could be encountered. But likewise in this case they were not as satisfactory as in case of the antimicrobial growth promoters. Summarizing the review of the literature, it could be concluded that if the described procedures were used in combination with a high level of farm management, optimal nutrition, welfare, biosecurity and veterinary care, the results obtained could compensate for the losses which were observed in the postweaning period in swine production after the ban of antimicrobial growth promoters. If this were not the case, feeds which contain antibiotics or therapeutic antibiotics should be used, interfering to an essential degree with the principle of ecological swine production without antimicrobial growth promoters as feed additives.