Clostridia difficile infection (CDI) is epidemic in the United States with more than 300,000 new cases per year and 25,000 deaths per year. Although treatable with antibiotics, recurrent CDI is debilitating, costly and lethal. Recurrent CDI often does not resolve with antibiotic use, prompting unconventional measures such as stool transplantation or fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT). FMT by anecdotal accounts and in small case series is surprisingly effective. There has been an explosion of studies in the past several years investigating FMT for recurrent CDI.

In findings reported in the journal Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics an analysis of seven randomized controlled trials and 30 case series involving 1,973 patients, FMT was more effective than vancomycin in resolving recurrent CDI. Clinical resolution occurred 92% of those receiving FMT. Additional findings included: 1) delivery of FMT via lower GI was 95% effective vs 88% via upper GI, 2) there was no difference between fresh and frozen FMT, 3) administering

consecutive courses of FMT following failure of first FMT resulted in an incremental effect and 4) serious adverse events were uncommon.

Since beginning FMT program in 2014 at Naples Community Hospital, we have had a 91% success rate in treating recurrent CDI. To learn more about FMT and Clostridia difficile infection please review this video.

On Saturday, December 9, 2017 Dr. Phillips will present these clinical findings in a lecture entitled: Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Therapy of Recurrent Clostridia Difficile Infection at the First Annual Research, Evidence-based Practice, and Quality Improvement Conference at Telford Auditorium, Naples Community Hospital.