Can doctors really do a fecal transplant for c dif infection?

Not a transplant: Not really a transplant. The purpose is to transfer colon bacteria in an individual over run with clostridium difficile. The transferred bacteria would try to overgrow the c. Diff and restore the normal colon bacteria population.

Fecal Transplant: Fecal transplant is becoming more common for patients in whom other methods have failed and the infection persists. Stool is collected from a healthy volunteer who is screened for evidence of any infection. After processing, the specimen is then administered to the patient via any one of different methods. Subject may be reviewed on line for more specifics. It is very effective for many patients.

Yes*: I do - though theoretically any doctor can do it, most are not comfortable doing it because of the "ick" factor *the fda has recently stated that fecal transplants fall under the "biologic drug" category, and if it is to be performed, requires their appproval by rapid communications if emergent or submit an "investigational new drug" (ind) application if non- emergent.

Yes, for refractory: I am performing this procedure for patients with c diff not improving after 3 antibiotic treatment. It's been shown to be effective in more than 90% of patients.