Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), often referred to as 'stool transplant', 'fecal transplant', 'poop transplant', is the process of transplantation of fecal bacteria from a healthy individual into a recipient. FMT involves restoration of the colonic microflora by introducing healthy bacterial flora through infusion of stool obtained from a healthy donor. FMT is rapidly becoming accepted as a viable, safe, and effective treatment for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). CDI is a frequent nosocomial illness, and identified as the pathological agent in 10–20% of cases of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, and as high as 50% in epidemic outbreaks.
Fecal bacteriotherapy is more than 90% effective in those for whom antibiotics have not worked or in whom the disease recurs following antibiotics. FMT has been used to treat other conditions, including colitis, constipation, and irritable bowel syndrome.
The primary indications for FMT per AGA® guidlines are as follow:
1. Recurrent or relapsing CDI:
a. Three or more episodes of mild to moderate CDI and failure to respond to a 6- to 8-week taper with vancomycin with or without an alternative antibiotic (eg, rifaximin, nitazoxanide, or fidaxomicin)
b. At least 2 episodes of CDI resulting in hospitalization and associated with significant morbidity
2. Moderate CDI with no response to standard therapy (vancomycin or fidaxomicin) for at least 1 week and, possibly:
3. Severe (even fulminant) CDI with no response to standard therapy for 48 hours.
Preparing for the procedure requires careful selection and screening of the donor and excluding
those who test positive for certain diseases as well as any donor carrying any pathogenic
gastrointestinal infectious agent.
Donors must be tested for a wide array of bacterial and parasitic infections.
Historically, FMT has been offered only in a few specialized centers globally, but in the last few years, there has been growing use of FMT, with numerous publications from many international sites demonstrating efficacy in CDI. Most of these have been uncontrolled, but they have all reported high success rates of around 90 % or more.
source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, wikipedia.org et al..
Gastroenterology Center is proud to announce that it is offering the
treatment of FMT at Huguley Hospital for Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Please call our office at 817-551-6161 to learn more about FMT or to sechdule an appointment.
