A study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases examined the durability and clinical outcomes of fecal microbiota transplantation as well as patient satisfaction.
Researchers contacted 190 eligible patients who received FMT for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection for a follow-up survey. Of the 190 patients, 137 completed the survey. The median time from last FMT to follow-up was 22 months.
Eighty-two percent of patients at follow-up had experienced no recurrence of C. diff post-FMT (non-RCDI group) and 18 percent of patients had C. diff post-FMT (RCDI group). Antibiotic exposure for non-C. diff infections after FMT was more common in the RCDI group as compared to the non-RCDI group.
Eleven percent of patients reported improvement or resolution of diagnoses not related to C. diff post-FMT while 33 percent reported development of a new medical condition or symptom post-FMT.
Additionally, 95 percent of patients indicated they would undergo FMT again; of which, 70 percent reported they would prefer FMT to antibiotics as initial treatment if they were to experience recurrent C. diff.