Fecal Microbiota Transplantation by Colonoscopy for Recurrent C. Difficile Infection

Summary

In the recent past, a deep change in the epidemiology of C. difficile infection has occurred, with a rise in its frequency, severity, and mortality. Both the refractoriness of the infection to standard therapy and its probability of recurrence have also increased, representing a main clinical issue. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) refers to the introduction of a liquid filtrate of stools from a healthy donor into the gastrointestinal tract of a patient for the treatment of specific diseases. FMT has shown outstanding results in the treatment of recurrent C. difficile infection. It can be performed through various routes: nasogastric or nasojejunal tube, upper endoscopy, retention enema, colonoscopy. In a recent systematic review of studies using FMT for the treatment of recurrent C. difficile infection, Cammarota et al. observed that lower gastrointestinal route (colonoscopy, enema) led to the achievement of higher eradication rates than upper delivery (gastroscopy, naso-gastric or naso-jejunal tube) (81-86% vs 84-93%, respectively). In a randomized clinical trial, Van Nood et al. showed the efficacy of FMT by nasojejunal tube in recurrent C. difficile infection. Up to now, data on FMT by lower route come out only by case series and case reports. The investigators' aim is to compare the efficacy of colonoscopic FMT and standard antibiotic therapy for the treatment of C. difficile infection in a randomized clinical trial

Timeline

Start

2013-07

Primary completion

2014-11

Completion

2014-11

Publications

• Background Cammarota G, Ianiro G, Bibbo S, Gasbarrini A. Gut microbiota modulation: probiotics, antibiotics or fecal microbiota transplantation? Intern Emerg Med. 2014 Jun;9(4):365-73. doi: 10.1007/s11739-014-1069-4. Epub 2014 Mar 25.
• Background Cammarota G, Ianiro G, Gasbarrini A, Masucci L, Sanguinetti M. Faecal transplantation for Clostridium difficile infection. Three cases treated in Italy. Dig Liver Dis. 2014 May;46(5):475. doi: 10.1016/j.dld.2013.12.011. Epub 2014 Jan 20. No abstract available.
• Background Cammarota G, Ianiro G, Gasbarrini A. Fecal microbiota transplantation for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection: a systematic review. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2014 Sep;48(8):693-702. doi: 10.1097/MCG.0000000000000046.

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Indications