Study: Frozen Fecal Transplants Effective at Curing C. Diff

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have successfully used frozen fecal transplants to cure Clostridium difficile, or C. diff.

The transplants have been proven to rebalance gut bacteria that is affected by C. diff, a potentially fatal antibiotic-resistant infection, but difficulty previously arose with finding and screening donors. To address this, the researchers used frozen fecal matter from donors unrelated to the patients. The fecal matter can be administered either through colonoscopy or a nasogastric tube.

The researchers had a total cure rate of 90 percent using the frozen fecal matter. They suggested that "banks" of frozen fecal matter could be created to expedite the procedures and noted that the nasogastric tube administration route is less invasive for frail seniors.

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