[Refractory colitis by Clostridium difficile treated with fecal microbiota transplant]

Medicina (B Aires). 2019;79(4):291-294.
[Article in Spanish]

Abstract

Clostridium difficile infection is an increasingly recognized cause of diarrhea in inpatients, frequently associated to high mortality. Vancomycin is the treatment of choice for all Clostridium difficile- associated diarrheas, with different degrees of severity. However, some patients develop refractory forms to that treatment and there are no alternative antibiotic schemes recommended for these cases. Fecal microbiota transplantation has been shown to be successful in a series of cases of severe diarrhea associated with this organism. We present a case of refractory C. difficile infection successfully treated with fecal microbiota transplantation.

La diarrea por Clostridium difficile es reconocida de manera creciente en pacientes hospitalizados y se asocia con alta mortalidad. La vancomicina por vía enteral es el tratamiento antibiótico recomendado para las diferentes formas, incluso las más graves. Sin embargo, un grupo pequeño de pacientes desarrolla formas refractarias a ese tratamiento y no existen esquemas antibióticos alternativos recomendados para estos casos. El trasplante de microbiota fecal ha demostrado ser exitoso en una serie de casos de diarrea grave asociada a este microorganismo. Presentamos un caso de diarrea refractaria por C. difficile que fue tratada con éxito con una infusión de microbiota fecal.

Keywords: clostridium difficile; diarrhea; fecal microbiota transplant; hospital infection.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Clostridioides difficile*
  • Clostridium Infections / complications
  • Clostridium Infections / therapy*
  • Diarrhea / microbiology
  • Diarrhea / therapy*
  • Fecal Microbiota Transplantation*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Treatment Outcome