Children suffering from recurrent Clostridiodes difficile infections can be safely and effectively treated with fecal microbiota transplant, or the transfer of stool from a donor who is healthy to a patient, according to a study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
U.S. researchers conducted a retrospective study involving 372 patients with C. diff, between the ages of 11 months and 23 years. The study participants underwent an FMT procedure at a pediatric center in the U.S. The FMT was administered via colonoscopy, nasogastric tube, frozen capsules or enemas.
After analyzing two-month outcomes for 335 patients, researchers found that 81 percent of the patients did not experience a recurrence of C. diff after one FMT treatment. Of the remaining patients who had two rounds of FMT, about 50 percent did not have C. diff recurrence. The overall success rate was 87 percent.
Researchers also found that success of the FMT procedures was 2.4 times more likely when patients received the stool via colonoscopy compared to other methods.
Researchers said that the study was limited by its retrospective design and relatively short period of follow-up.
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