Received: June 24, 2006
Accepted: August 01, 2006
Ref: Dixit V, Sellers J. Management of Clostridium difficile diarrhoea in District General Hospital, audit for 3months and review of literature. Internet Journal of Medical Update 2007 Jan-Jun;2(1):27-30.

MANAGEMENT OF CLOSTRIDIUM DIFFICILE DIARRHOEA IN DISTRICT GENERAL HOSPITAL: AUDIT FOR 3 MONTHS AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Dr. Varun Dixit^† and Dr. J. Sellers^‡

^†Senior House Officer, Anesthesia
^‡Consultant Microbiologist
Wansbeck General Hospital, Ashington, Northumbria, England

(Corresponding Author: Dr. Varun Dixit, 1, Marmion Way, Ashford, Kent, England, TN23 5HY, UK, Email: varundixit18@yahoo.co.in)

INTRODUCTION

Diarrhoea is one of the most common side effects of antibiotic therapy. The disruption of the normal enteric flora caused by antibiotics may lead to overgrowth of pathogens and functional disturbances of the intestinal carbohydrate and bile acid metabolism, resulting in osmotic diarrhoea [1].

There is a growing concern about the nosocomial colonisation and infection with Clostridium difficile in patients receiving broad spectrum antibiotics. Clostridium difficile is a gram positive, spore forming anaerobic bacillus. Use of any antibiotic in general and broad spectrum antibiotic in particular causes disruption of the microflora of the intestine. After disruption of the colonic microflora, colonisation of Clostridium difficile generally occurs through the ingestion of heat resistant spores, which convert to vegetative forms in the colon [2]. Depending on the host factors, an asymptomatic carrier state or clinical manifestations of Clostridium difficile colitis develop [2].

Risk factors of Clostridium difficile include prolonged hospital stay, course of antibiotics and elderly and frail population. Increased risk is partly to the debilitated patient’s inability to mount an IgG antibody response against Clostridium difficile toxin A [3]. The ability to mount an immune response is not protective against Clostridium difficile colonisation, but it is associated with decreased morbidity, mortality, and recurrence of Clostridium difficile- associated diarrhoea [4-5].

METHODOLOGY

The study was conducted in Wansbeck General Hospital which is about 300 bedded District General Hospital in Northumberland, North East of England. The hospital deals with about 24,000 inpatients, 21,000 outpatients, 14,000 day cases and 36,000 emergency attendees each year. In the Hospital, there were 82 Clostridium difficile positive cases in 2004. We audited the management of patients with Clostridium difficile positive diarrhoea over a period of 3 months from October 2004 to December 2004. This constituted 24 cases. We studied the demographic features of the infection, including the age, sex, and residential status of the patients. We used the Trust guidelines as the standard for management.

RESULTS

All the patients in our survey were elderly. Incidence of infection rising with the advanced age showed more than 70% being over 80 years old (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Age wise distribution of cases

There was no sex difference in the infection rates. Two third of the patients were admitted from home (Table 1). At the time of admission there were asymptomatic and had no diarrhoea. This reinforces the fact that the Clostridium difficile infection is a nosocomial infection.

Table 1: Source of admission of the patient

Forty one percent (10 cases) of cases were treated with a Cephalosporin and Thirty seven percent (9 cases) were treated with a Penicillin, making these antibiotics most commonly associated with the Clostridium diarrhoea (Table 2). But we should bear in mind these are perhaps most commonly prescribed antibiotics as well.

Table 2: Antibiotic Course

Table 3 shows reasons for starting antibiotic in these 24 cases. The chest infection was the most common reason to give antibiotic.

Table 3: Reasons for giving antibiotics

In one third of the cases the diarrhoea started over a fortnight after the admission in the hospital. But in about 40 percent (10 cases) of patients the diarrhoea started within first ten days in hospital (Table 4). Longer stay in hospital was associated with increased incidence of the diarrhoea, which in turn delays their discharges.

Table 4: Onset of diarrhoea following admission

In fifteen cases the diarrhoea started within ten days of stopping the antibiotic or completing the course of the antibiotic (Table 5).

Table 5: Onset of diarrhoea following the antibiotic course

In our audit the Metronidazole was started in twenty one cases but only in three cases full ten day course of Metronidazole was given. In fourteen cases the diarrhoea settled and four cases had recurrence which was treated successfully by repeat course of Metronidazole. There were six deaths which is quarter of the cases studied (Table 6).

Table 6: Follow up

DISCUSSION

The Clostridium difficile infection is associated with frail and elderly population which are on antibiotic for infection. The infection can be a contributory factor for the death of the patients if not the primary cause for it. In our series one of the patients was treated with second line treatment of Vancomycin and none of them received any anti-diarrhoeal agents.

Diagnosis can be made by careful history and history of use of antibiotics. A combination immunoassay that is currently in development tests for C. difficile toxin A and B (specificity 97 to99 %) [6].

Treatment is dependent on the severity of the diarrhoea and concurrent use of antibiotic. If the patient is having mild diarrhoea and is on no antibiotic, the only treatment needed is to keep patient well hydrated and observe. If patient is on antibiotic then either the antibiotic stopped or changed to one less frequently associated with C. difficile. For mild diarrhoea not responding or for severe diarrhoea, Metronidazole should be started at dose of 500 mg for four times daily for 10 days. Metronidazole is an inexpensive drug with a greater than 90 percent positive response rate [7]. If the patient is pregnant or does not respond to or tolerate Metronidazole, Vancomycin can initiated in a dosage of 125 to 500 mg orally four times a day for 10 to 14 days [8]. In every case universal precautions for infection control should be taken and patient kept in isolation till diarrhoea is settled.

The cause of death in the 6 cases was ongoing infection and frail patients. All the patients were elderly and autopsy was not considered necessary in such cases.

CONCLUSION

This is a retrospective audit conducted for duration of three months. During that time there were 26 positive cases of Clostridium difficile. Twenty four of them are included in the audit; case notes for the two cases were not available as these were transferred to other hospital. The conclusions from our survey are clear and as follows:

Following the audit we also concluded that patients with diarrhoea need to be regularly evaluated clinically. The rational of continuing the patients on antibiotics have to regularly review. Full course of Metronidazole for 10 days is necessary. This audit has limitations, as it was done on a small group of patients. The duration of study was also short.

REFERENCES