Clinical review of the management of fulminant clostridium difficile infection

American Journal of Gastroenterology

Volumn 103, Issue 12, 2008, Pages 3195-3203

  Jaber, M Raffat ^a   Olafsson, Snorri ^a   Fung, Wesley L ^a   Reeves, Mark E ^a  

^a LOMA LINDA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CEFTRIAXONE; CEPHALOSPORIN; CIPROFLOXACIN; CLINDAMYCIN; COLESTIPOL; COLESTYRAMINE; GATIFLOXACIN; HYPERTENSIVE FACTOR; LEVOFLOXACIN; METRONIDAZOLE; PROBIOTIC AGENT; QUINOLINE DERIVED ANTIINFECTIVE AGENT; VANCOMYCIN;

ACUTE ABDOMEN; ANTIBIOTIC THERAPY; BIOSIS; CLINICAL TRIAL; CLOSTRIDIUM DIFFICILE; CLOSTRIDIUM DIFFICILE INFECTION; COCHRANE LIBRARY; COLON RESECTION; DIARRHEA; DISEASE ASSOCIATION; DISEASE SEVERITY; DRUG DOSE COMPARISON; DRUG DOSE REDUCTION; DRUG FATALITY; DRUG MEGADOSE; DRUG WITHDRAWAL; EPIDEMIOLOGICAL DATA; FLUID RESUSCITATION; HUMAN; ILEOSTOMY; IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE TREATMENT; KIDNEY FAILURE; LOW DRUG DOSE; MEDLINE; MEGACOLON; PATHOPHYSIOLOGY; PRIORITY JOURNAL; PSEUDOMEMBRANOUS COLITIS; RECOMMENDED DRUG DOSE; REVIEW; SCISEARCH; SHOCK; ALGORITHM; CHEMICALLY INDUCED DISORDER; MICROBIOLOGY; RISK FACTOR;

ABDOMEN, ACUTE; ALGORITHMS; CLOSTRIDIUM DIFFICILE; COLECTOMY; DIARRHEA; ENTEROCOLITIS, PSEUDOMEMBRANOUS; HUMANS; RISK FACTORS;

EID: 58149393176     PISSN: 00029270     EISSN: 15720241     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1572-0241.2008.02198.x     Document Type: Review

References (100)

1. Cleary RK. Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea and colitis: Clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment. Dis Colon Rectum 1998 41 : 1435 49.
2. Rubin MS, Bodenstein LE, Kent KC. Severe Clostridium difficile colitis. Dis Colon Rectum 1995 38 : 350 4.
3. Wiesen P, Van Gossum A, Preiser JC. Diarrhoea in the critically ill. Curr Opin Crit Care 2006 12 : 149 54.
4. Longo WE, Mazuski JE, Virgo KS, et al. Outcome after colectomy for Clostridium difficile colitis. Dis Colon Rectum 2004 47 : 1620 6.
5. Dallal RM, Harbrecht BG, Boujoukas AJ, et al. Fulminant Clostridium difficile: An underappreciated and increasing cause of death and complications. Ann Surg 2002 235 : 363 72.
6. Pepin J, Valiquette L, Alary ME, et al. Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea in a region of Quebec from 1991 to 2003: A changing pattern of disease severity. CMAJ 2004 171 : 466 72.
7. Loo VG, Poirier L, Miller MA, et al. A predominantly clonal multi-institutional outbreak of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea with high morbidity and mortality. N Engl J Med 2005 353 : 2442 9.
8. Bartlett JG, Perl TM. The new Clostridium difficile - What does it mean? N Engl J Med 2005 353 : 2503 5.
9. McDonald LC, Killgore GE, Thompson A, et al. An epidemic, toxin gene-variant strain of Clostridium difficile. N Engl J Med 2005 353 : 2433 41.
10. Warny M, Pepin J, Fang A, et al. Toxin production by an emerging strain of Clostridium difficile associated with outbreaks of severe disease in North America and Europe. Lancet 2005 366 : 1079 84.
11. Pepin J, Valiquette L, Cossette B. Mortality attributable to nosocomial Clostridium difficile-associated disease during an epidemic caused by a hypervirulent strain in Quebec. CMAJ 2005 173 : 1037 42.
12. Lamontagne F, Labbe AC, Haeck O, et al. Impact of emergency colectomy on survival of patients with fulminant Clostridium difficile colitis during an epidemic caused by a hypervirulent strain. Ann Surg 2007 245 : 267 72.
13. Loo VG, Libman MD, Miller MA, et al. Clostridium difficile: a formidable foe. CMAJ 2004 171 : 47 8.
14. Muto CA, Pokrywka M, Shutt K, et al. A large outbreak of Clostridium difficile-associated disease with an unexpected proportion of deaths and colectomies at a teaching hospital following increased fluoroquinolone use. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2005 26 : 273 80.
15. Dial S, Alrasadi K, Manoukian C, et al. Risk of Clostridium difficile diarrhea among hospital inpatients prescribed proton pump inhibitors: Cohort and case-control studies. CMAJ 2004 171 : 33 8.
16. Morris AM, Jobe BA, Stoney M, et al. Clostridium difficile colitis: An increasingly aggressive iatrogenic disease? Arch Surg 2002 137 : 1096 100.
17. Jobe BA, Grasley A, Deveney KE, et al. Clostridium difficile colitis: An increasing hospital-acquired illness. Am J Surg 1995 169 : 480 3.
18. Severe Clostridium difficile-associated disease in populations previously at low risk - Four states, 2005. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2005 54 : 1201 5.
19. Owens RC. Clostridium difficile-associated disease: an emerging threat to patient safety: Insights from the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists. Pharmacotherapy 2006 26 : 299 311.
20. Gerding DN, Johnson S, Peterson LR, et al. Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea and colitis. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1995 16 : 459 77.
21. Johnson S, Gerding DN. Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea. Clin Infect Dis 1998 26 : 1027 34 quiz 1035 6.
22. Guzman R, Kirkpatrick J, Forward K, et al. Failure of parenteral metronidazole in the treatment of pseudomembranous colitis. J Infect Dis 1988 158 : 1146 7.
23. Marts BC, Longo WE, Vernava AM 3rd., et al. Patterns and prognosis of Clostridium difficile colitis. Dis Colon Rectum 1994 37 : 837 45.
24. Bartlett JG. Antimicrobial agents implicated in Clostridium difficile toxin-associated diarrhea of colitis. Johns Hopkins Med J 1981 149 : 6 9.
25. McFarland LV, Surawicz CM, Stamm WE. Risk factors for Clostridium difficile carriage and C. difficile-associated diarrhea in a cohort of hospitalized patients. J Infect Dis 1990 162 : 678 84.
26. Anand A, Bashey B, Mir T, et al. Epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and outcome of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea. Am J Gastroenterol 1994 89 : 519 23.
27. McFarland LV, Bauwens JE, Melcher SA, et al. Ciprofloxacin-associated Clostridium difficile disease. Lancet 1995 346 : 977 8.
28. Bauwens JE, McFarland LV, Melcher SA. Recurrent Clostridium difficile disease following ciprofloxacin use. Ann Pharmacother 1997 31 : 1090.
29. Ozawa TT, Valadez T. Clostridium difficile infection associated with levofloxacin treatment. Tenn Med 2002 95 : 113 5.
30. Kelly CP, Chetham S, Keates S, et al. Survival of anti-Clostridium difficile bovine immunoglobulin concentrate in the human gastrointestinal tract. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1997 41 : 236 41.
31. Katz DA, Lynch ME, Littenberg B. Clinical prediction rules to optimize cytotoxin testing for Clostridium difficile in hospitalized patients with diarrhea. Am J Med 1996 100 : 487 95.
32. Gerding DN, Olson MM, Peterson LR, et al. Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea and colitis in adults. A prospective case-controlled epidemiologic study. Arch Intern Med 1986 146 : 95 100.
33. Privitera G, Scarpellini P, Ortisi G, et al. Prospective study of Clostridium difficile intestinal colonization and disease following single-dose antibiotic prophylaxis in surgery. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1991 35 : 208 10.
34. Thomas DR, Bennett RG, Laughon BE, et al. Postantibiotic colonization with Clostridium difficile in nursing home patients. J Am Geriatr Soc 1990 38 : 415 20.
35. Kreisel D, Savel TG, Silver AL, et al. Surgical antibiotic prophylaxis and Clostridium difficile toxin positivity. Arch Surg 1995 130 : 989 93.
36. McFarland LV. Epidemiology, risk factors and treatments for antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Dig Dis 1998 16 : 292 307.
37. Zimmerman RK. Risk factors for Clostridium difficile cytotoxin-positive diarrhea after control for horizontal transmission. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1991 12 : 96 100.
38. Samore MH. Epidemiology of nosocomial Clostridium difficile diarrhoea. J Hosp Infect 1999 43 (Suppl S183 90.
39. Bliss DZ, Johnson S, Savik K, et al. Acquisition of Clostridium difficile and Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea in hospitalized patients receiving tube feeding. Ann Intern Med 1998 129 : 1012 9.
40. Bradbury AW, Barrett S. Surgical aspects of Clostridium difficile colitis. Br J Surg 1997 84 : 150 9.
41. Grundfest-Broniatowski S, Quader M, Alexander F, et al. Clostridium difficile colitis in the critically ill. Dis Colon Rectum 1996 39 : 619 23.
42. Tumbarello M, Tacconelli E, Leone F, et al. Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection: A case-control study. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 1995 7 : 259 63.
43. Lipsett PA, Samantaray DK, Tam ML, et al. Pseudomembranous colitis: A surgical disease? Surgery 1994 116 : 491 6.
44. Kyne L, Sougioultzis S, McFarland LV, et al. Underlying disease severity as a major risk factor for nosocomial Clostridium difficile diarrhea. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2002 23 : 653 9.
45. Kyne L, Warny M, Qamar A, et al. Asymptomatic carriage of Clostridium difficile and serum levels of IgG antibody against toxin A. N Engl J Med 2000 342 : 390 7.
46. Koss K, Clark MA, Sanders DS, et al. The outcome of surgery in fulminant Clostridium difficile colitis. Colorectal Dis 2006 8 : 149 54.
47. Flegel WA, Muller F, Daubener W, et al. Cytokine response by human monocytes to Clostridium difficile toxin A and toxin B. Infect Immun 1991 59 : 3659 66.
48. Lyerly DM, Krivan HC, Wilkins TD. Clostridium difficile: Its disease and toxins. Clin Microbiol Rev 1988 1 : 1 18.
49. Riegler M, Sedivy, R, Pothoulakis, C et al. Clostridium difficile toxin B is more potent than toxin A in damaging human colonic epithelium in vitro. J Clin Invest 1995 95 : 2004.
50. Morris JB, Zollinger RM Jr., Stellato TA. Role of surgery in antibiotic-induced pseudomembranous enterocolitis. Am J Surg 1990 160 : 535 9.
51. Castagliuolo I, Keates AC, Qiu B, et al. Increased substance P responses in dorsal root ganglia and intestinal macrophages during Clostridium difficile toxin A enteritis in rats. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1997 94 : 4788 93.
52. Castagliuolo I, Keates AC, Wang CC, et al. Clostridium difficile toxin A stimulates macrophage-inflammatory protein-2 production in rat intestinal epithelial cells. J Immunol 1998 160 : 6039 45.
53. Medich DS, Lee KK, Simmons RL, et al. Laparotomy for fulminant pseudomembranous colitis. Arch Surg 1992 127 : 847 52 discussion 852 3.
54. Synnott K, Mealy K, Merry C, et al. Timing of surgery for fulminating pseudomembranous colitis. Br J Surg 1998 85 : 229 31.
55. Drapkin MS, Worthington MG, Chang TW, et al. Clostridium difficile colitis mimicking acute peritonitis. Arch Surg 1985 120 : 1321 2.
56. Klipfel AA, Schein M, Fahoum B, et al. Acute abdomen and Clostridium difficile colitis: Still a lethal combination. Dig Surg 2000 17 : 160 3.
57. Trudel JL, Deschenes M, Mayrand S, et al. Toxic megacolon complicating pseudomembranous enterocolitis. Dis Colon Rectum 1995 38 : 1033 8.
58. Muehlhausen VL, Blount BW. Clostridium difficile colitis presenting as an acute abdomen: Case report and review of the literature. J Fam Pract 1997 44 : 97 100.
59. Wilcox MH. Treatment of Clostridium difficile infection. J Antimicrob Chemother 1998 41 (Suppl C 41 6.
60. Fekety R, McFarland LV, Surawicz CM, et al. Recurrent Clostridium difficile diarrhea: Characteristics of and risk factors for patients enrolled in a prospective, randomized, double-blinded trial. Clin Infect Dis 1997 24 : 324 33.
61. Bulusu M, Narayan S, Shetler K, et al. Leukocytosis as a harbinger and surrogate marker of Clostridium difficile infection in hospitalized patients with diarrhea. Am J Gastroenterol 2000 95 : 3137 41.
62. Byrn JC, Maun DC, Gingold DS, et al. Predictors of Mortality After Colectomy for Fulminant Clostridium difficile Colitis. Arch Surg 2008 143 : 150 4.
63. Fekety R. American College of Gastroenterology, Practice Parameters Committee. Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea and colitis. Am J Gastroenterol 1997 92 : 739 50.
64. Aldeen WE, Bingham M, Aiderzada A, et al. Comparison of the TOX A/B test to a cell culture cytotoxicity assay for the detection of Clostridium difficile in stools. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis 2000 36 : 211 3.
65. Lyerly DM, Neville LM, Evans DT, et al. Multicenter evaluation of the Clostridium difficile TOX A/B TEST. J Clin Microbiol 1998 36 : 184 90.
66. Frenz MB, McIntyre AS. Reducing delays in the diagnosis and treatment of Clostridium difficile diarrhoea. Q J Med 2003 96 : 579 82.
67. Mohan SS, McDermott BP, Parchuri S, et al. Lack of value of repeat stool testing for Clostridium difficile toxin. Am J Med 2006 119 : 356 e7 8.
68. Kirkpatrick ID, Greenberg HM. Evaluating the CT diagnosis of Clostridium difficile colitis: Should CT guide therapy? AJR Am J Roentgenol 2001 176 : 635 9.
69. Ros PR, Buetow PC, Pantograg-Brown L, et al. Pseudomembranous colitis. Radiology 1996 198 : 1 9.
70. O'Sullivan SG. The accordion sign. Radiology 1998 206 : 177 8.
71. Blickman JG, Boland GW, Cleveland RH, et al. Pseudomembranous colitis: CT findings in children. Pediatr Radiol 1995 25 (Suppl 1 S157 9.
72. Ash L, Baker ME, O'Malley CM Jr., et al. Colonic abnormalities on CT in adult hospitalized patients with Clostridium difficile colitis: Prevalence and significance of findings. AJR Am J Roentgenol 2006 186 : 1393 400.
73. Wilcox CM, Gryboski D, Fernandez M, et al. Computed tomographic findings in pseudomembranous colitis: An important clue to the diagnosis. South Med J 1995 88 : 929 33.
74. Boland GW, Lee MJ, Cats AM, et al. Clostridium difficile colitis: Correlation of CT findings with severity of clinical disease. Clin Radiol 1995 50 : 153 6.
75. Boland GW, Lee MJ, Cats AM, et al. Antibiotic-induced diarrhea: Specificity of abdominal CT for the diagnosis of Clostridium difficile disease. Radiology 1994 191 : 103 6.
76. Zar FA, Bakkanagari SR, Moorthi KM, et al. A comparison of vancomycin and metronidazole for the treatment of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea, stratified by disease severity. Clin Infect Dis 2007 45 : 302 7.
77. Olson MM, Shanholtzer CJ, Lee JT Jr., et al. Ten years of prospective Clostridium difficile-associated disease surveillance and treatment at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, 1982-1991. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1994 15 : 371 81.
78. Bartlett JG. Clinical practice. Antibiotic-associated diarrhea. N Engl J Med 2002 346 : 334 9.
79. Wenisch C, Parschalk B, Hasenhundl M, et al. Comparison of vancomycin, teicoplanin, metronidazole, and fusidic acid for the treatment of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea. Clin Infect Dis 1996 22 : 813 8.
80. ASHP therapeutic position statement on the preferential use of metronidazole for the treatment of Clostridium difficile-associated disease. Am J Health Syst Pharm 1998 55 : 1407 11.
81. Young GP, Ward PB, Bayley N, et al. Antibiotic-associated colitis due to Clostridium difficile: Double-blind comparison of vancomycin with bacitracin. Gastroenterology 1985 89 : 1038 45.
82. Fekety R, Silva J, Buggy B, et al. Treatment of antibiotic-associated colitis with vancomycin. J Antimicrob Chemother 1984 14 (Suppl D 97 102.
83. Bartlett JG. Clostridium difficile: Clinical considerations. Rev Infect Dis 1990 12 (Suppl 2 S243 51.
84. Apisarnthanarak A, Razavi B, Mundy LM. Adjunctive intracolonic vancomycin for severe Clostridium difficile colitis: Case series and review of the literature. Clin Infect Dis 2002 35 : 690 6.
85. Giannasca PJ, Warny M. Active and passive immunization against Clostridium difficile diarrhea and colitis. Vaccine 2004 22 : 848 56.
86. Sougioultzis S, Kyne L, Drudy D, et al. Clostridium difficile toxoid vaccine in recurrent C. difficile-associated diarrhea. Gastroenterology 2005 128 : 764 70.
87. Nathanson DR, Sheahan M, Chao L, et al. Intracolonic use of vancomycin for treatment of Clostridium difficile colitis in a patient with a diverted colon: Report of a case. Dis Colon Rectum 2001 44 : 1871 2.
88. Nomura K, Fukumoto K, Shimizu D, et al. Pseudomembranous colitis presenting as acute colonic obstruction without diarrhea in a patient with gastric Burkitt lymphoma. World J Gastroenterol 2005 11 : 2681 3.
89. Shetler K, Nieuwenhuis R, Wren SM, et al. Decompressive colonoscopy with intracolonic vancomycin administration for the treatment of severe pseudomembranous colitis. Surg Endosc 2001 15 : 653 9.
90. Pasic MJR, Carrel T, Von Segesser L, et al. Intracolonic vancomycin for pseudomembranous colitis. N Engl J Med 1993 329 : 583.
91. Bassaris HP, Lianou PE, Legakis NJ, et al. Interaction between Clostridium difficile and polymorphonuclear leucocytes from the elderly and post-operative cancer patients: Phagocytosis and bactericidal function. Med Microbiol Immunol 1984 173 : 49 55.
92. Kelly CP. Immune response to Clostridium difficile infection. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 1996 8 : 1048 53.
93. Morris LL, Villalba MR, Glover JL. Management of pseudomembranous colitis. Am Surg 1994 60 : 548 51 discussion 551 2.
94. Hickson M, D'Souza A, Muthu N, et al. Use of probiotic Lactobacillus preparation to prevent diarrhoea associated with antibiotics: Randomised double blind placebo controlled trial. BMJ 2007 335 : 80.
95. Hermsen JL, Dobrescu C, Kudsk KA. Clostridium difficile infection: a surgical disease in evolution. J Gastrointest Surg 2008 12 : 1512 7.
96. Hall FJ, Berger D. Outcome of colectomy for Clostridium difficile colitis: A plea for early surgical management. Am J Surg 2008 196 : 384 8.
97. Ali SO, Welch JP, Dring RJ. Early surgical intervention for fulminant pseudomembranous colitis. Am Surg 2008 74 : 20 6.
98. Tedesco FJ, Gordon D, Fortson WC. Approach to patients with multiple relapses of antibiotic-associated pseudomembranous colitis. Am J Gastroenterol 1985 80 : 867 8.
99. McFarland LV, Elmer GW, Surawicz CM, Breaking the cycle: Treatment strategies for 163 cases of recurrent Clostridium difficile disease. Am J Gastroenterol 2002 97 : 1769 75.
100. Gerding DN, Muto CA, Owens RC, Jr. Treatment of Clostridium difficile infection. Clin Infect Dis 2008 46 (Suppl 1 S32 42.