Mayo Clinic opens new C. difficile Clinic at Rochester campus

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) has reached an epidemic state and is the most common infectious cause of diarrhea in hospitals. Health care providers are seeing increased severity and recurrence rates of the infection. In response, Mayo Clinic has opened a C. difficile Clinic at the Rochester campus.

C. difficile infection is a major cause of diarrhea in inpatients and outpatients that happens after antibiotic exposure. It is associated with several complications, including severe and severe-complicated infection, recurrent infection and treatment failure.

"New treatment options are now available and we believe that a clinic dedicated to C. difficile will help improve patient care and outcomes," says Sahil Khanna, M.B.B.S., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist.

Dr. Khanna and Darrell Pardi, M.D., also a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist, staff the clinic.

One new treatment available is fecal transplant. Also known as stool transplant, the procedure restores healthy intestinal bacteria by placing donor stool in the colon. Additionally, there is ongoing research on the gut microflora in collaboration with the Center for Individualized Medicine at Mayo Clinic.

The C. difficile Clinic will provide some of the following:

Multidisciplinary approach to evaluation and management of C. difficile infection with a team consisting of physicians, nurses, study coordinators and research personnel with expertise in the gut microflora.

Evaluation and management of patients with:
o Initial episodes
o Recurrent and relapsing infection
o Severe and severe-complicated infection
o Infection nonresponsive to conventional therapies

Expertise in all facets of treatment, including:
o Oral drug therapy
o Fecal microbiota transplantation for recurrent and nonresponding infection
 Options of related and standardized stool donors
o Clinical trials for new therapies

Ongoing research:
o Research studies of the gut microflora in collaboration with the Center for Individualized Medicine
o Clinical trials for treatment
o Epidemiology and outcomes from infection