C Diff Poop Transplant
If you’re suffering from recurrent bouts of Clostridium difficile (C. diff.) infections, which affects your bowels, then you may be considering a C. diff poop transplant. This is a procedure whereby stool, or fecal matter, is transplanted from a healthy donor into the gastrointestinal tract of someone suffering from a C. diff.infection to help treat them.
Also known as bacteriotherapy or fecal microbial therapy, this so-called ‘C Diff poop transplant’ is often used as a treatment solution for C. diff. infections because it can help to re-balance intestinal flora.
The cause of these C. diff. infections are usually antibiotic use that has resulted in the destruction of so many of your good gut flora that some harmful ones then proliferate. By having a poop transfer, you can rebalance your gut flora and replace some of the depleted good gut bacteria.
Reasons to do a fecal transplant
One of the primary reasons why doctors will do a fecal transplant is once a patient is diagnosed with a recurrent Clostridium difficile infection. Clostridium difficile is a bacterium found in the gastrointestinal tract.
After taking antibiotics, some people’s microflora develop an imbalance and a Clostridium difficile infection can arise, causing watery diarrhoea and abdominal cramping. In some cases, it can even be so severe that it causes dehydration, which can be life-threatening.
Usually, people who have a C. diff. infection will be treated with antibiotics - these include metronidazole, vancomycin and fidaxomycin which specifically target this type of bacteria. But if the infection doesn’t clear up after one or two rounds of antibiotics, and you have a recurrent infection, then doctors will start looking for other alternatives like a fecal transplant.
Fecal transplantation is not usually performed to treat anything other than a Clostridium difficile infection. However there is research being undertaken to see whether fecal transplants could help in treating conditions like ulcerative colitis (UC), Crohn’s disease, cirrhosis, Autism, IBS, multiple sclerosis (MS) and diabetes.
What to expect: the fecal transplant procedure
A C. diff. poop transplant is usually done during a colonoscopy in a hospital, with the donor’s stool being inserted throughout the recipient’s colon. A long thin and flexible tube called a colonoscope is inserted into the rectum of the patient being treated and the donor’s poop is then syringed into the patient's colon. Because this can be uncomfortable, you’ll usually be given sedatives to make you sleep through the procedure.
Before being able to undergo this procedure, you will need to have stopped any antibiotics (at least 2 days before). You will also need to eat a liquid diet and have taken an enema or laxative to encourage the emptying of your bowels the night before your C. diff. poop transplant procedure.
Finding a poop transplant donor
To get a poop transplant, you need to make sure to find a suitable donor. Some people choose to go the DIY route, which we believe can bring up many potential issues and proper testing is mandatory. There are also special stool banks which work with physicians and use highly tested and properly processed samples. OpenBiome is one such donor bank, yet unfortunately they have shut down since the Covid-19 pandemic.
All donors will first need to be screened to ensure the safety of the procedure for the recipient patient. That means that donors will be screened for infectious diseases like HIV, Hepatitis A, B and C; and for parasites like giardia. It is also important to test for multiple drug resistant organisms.
Ideally donors should not have had antibiotics in the past 6 months, shouldn’t be immunocompromised, shouldn’t have an inflammatory bowel disease, and shouldn’t have a history of drug abuse or risky sexual behavior. The donors we work with have never had antibiotics and have perfect personal and family health history, have high metabolic rate, and maintain healthy diets.
How effective is a poop transfer for treating C. diff infections?
Fecal transplantation is highly effective in treating C. diff infections. Most patients who undergo the procedure will no longer suffer from recurrent C. diff infections following a single treatment.
However, some people may still experience a recurrence of a C. diff infection within 8 weeks of the procedure. In such cases, patients may need to undergo a second poop transfer.
Final thoughts on having a C Diff Poop Transplant
If you’ve been struggling with recurrent C. diff. infections, and all the uncomfortable symptoms that go along with that, then you may be considering a fecal transplant.
This Is a procedure that first needs to be approved by your doctor, and involves having to find a suitable poop donor. The procedure is highly effective at treating C. diff. infections and is generally safe and well tolerated. There is also some exciting research into the potential of fecal transplants to treat a range of other diseases.
