Rectal bacteriotherapy for recurrent Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea: results from a case series of 55...

Clostridium difficile infection is one of the most common nosocomial infections. Among other alternatives to standard treatment with vancomycin for recurrent infection are faecal microbiota transplantation and rectal bacteriotherapy with a fixed mixture of intestinal bacterial strains isolated from faeces of healthy persons to mimic a theoretical normal microflora. Developed by Dr. Tvede and Dr. Rask-Madsen, the latter method has been in use for selected patients during the last 25 years in Denmark. In this study we reviewed the medical records of patients treated with rectal bacteriotherapy for relapsing C. difficile in Denmark, 2000-2012. The primary end point was recurrent diarrhoea within 30 days after treatment. A total of 55 patients were included in this case series. Thirty-five patients (64%) had no recurrence within 30 days of bacteriotherapy. Patients with recurrence tended to be older (75.8 years vs. 61.3 years; p 0.26), and more often have preexisting gastrointestinal illness and longer duration of time from the first CDI to bacteriotherapy (221.6 days vs. 175.3 days; p 0.18). Treatment success was 80% in the subgroup of patients with no known gastrointestinal illness and first C. difficile episode less than 6 months before bacteriotherapy. The most common adverse events were abdominal pain (10.9%) and worsening diarrhoea (4.3%). One patient was hospitalized 10 days after treatment with appendicitis, fever, and Escherichia coli bacteremia. The results from this study indicate that rectal bacteriotherapy is a viable alternative to faecal microbiota transplantation in patients with relapsing C. difficile-associated diarrhoea.