Alternative Therapies

The available evidence does not support the routine use of probiotics for primary prevention or treatment of CDI; however, they may be considered as an adjunct to antimicrobial therapy in patients with recurrent disease. There has been no documented harm from probiotics in the general patient population; however they should NOT be prescribed to immunocompromised patients, to patients in critical care settings, to patients with a central line in place or to patients with bloody diarrhea or severe abdominal pain, as there have been reports of bacteremia and fungemia associated with probiotics in such settings

Fecal microbiota transplant treatments have been used for cases of recurrent CDI with success in several randomized controlled trials. This treatment still has limited availability, and eligible patients should be referred to a provider with experience in the procedure until provincial infrastructure has been established.

An expert consult is required, and all patients must provide informed consent prior to treatment.

The ability of cholestyramine to bind to the toxins produced by C. difficile has been found to be negligible. In addition there is potential for adverse effects because it does bind with a variety of oral medications, including vancomycin. Therefore, the use of cholestyramine and colestipol is not recommended for

There are no data to support the use of intravenous Immunoglobulin in the treatment of CDI.