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Updated: Dec 11, 2025

Fecal Microbiota Transplantation via Colonoscopy for Recurrent C. difficile Infection
Published on: December 8, 2014
A fatal fecaloma
Elsa Logre1, Lauriane Degravi1, Gaëtan Plantefève1
1Service de Réanimation Polyvalente, Centre Hospitalier Victor Dupouy, 69 Rue du Lieutenant-Colonel Prudhon, 95100, Argenteuil, France.
Background:
Fecal impaction may complicate chronic constipation. We report a fatal case of fecal impaction in a patient treated with long-term neuroleptic treatment.
Case Presentation:
A 70-year-old man with a history of severe chronic psychosis treated with olanzapine was admitted to the emergency department for acute abdominal pain and increased abdominal perimeter. Abdominal computed tomography revealed a severe fecal impaction with no sign of peritonitis or acute mesenteric ischemia. The patient eventually died from multi-organ failure 2 days after his admission to the intensive care unit.
Conclusions:
Chronic constipation with fecal impaction is a well-known complication of long-term neuroleptic treatment. Severe forms may be life-threatening. Prevention with systematic administration of laxatives appears of paramount importance.
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