Jordan Hospital is pleased to announce that it is the first hospital south of Boston to offer fecal microbiota transplantations (fecal transplants), a cutting edge procedure to cure recurrent Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infections. C. diff is a bacterium that can cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea to life-threatening inflammation of the colon that often targets elderly patients.

Jordan Hospital Gastroenterologist Dr. Brian Gill recently brought this new procedure to patients on the South Shore and Cape Cod. This surprisingly simple procedure cures an infection that is otherwise recurrent in patients whose symptoms have not been resolved with the use of antibiotics.

“Prior to performing fecal transplants, individuals infected with recurrent C. diff would try using antibiotics to cure the infection and a lot of the time we would see patients who would relapse,” says Gill. “With this procedure we now have the opportunity to cure the infection permanently.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control, C. diff is linked to the cause of an estimated 14,000 deaths per year in the United States. C. diff is a healthcare-associated infection (HAI). While most HAIs are declining, C. diff remains prominent and is highly contagious. Those most at risk include older or elderly adults who have been hospitalized or are in nursing homes.

This procedure normally takes about 10 days to complete. Individuals suffering from C. diff receive a stool donation from a family member. “Following the fecal transplant, people begin to see improvement almost immediately,” says Gill. “Patients return after a month and are permanently cured from the infection.”

When fecal transplants cure recurrent C. diff, it ultimately reduces the risk of hospitalization and in turn, transmission of the infection. These procedures are 90% effective in curing recurrent C. diff. Of the six procedures that Gill has been performed thus far at Jordan Hospital, 100% of them have been effective in curing the infection.

About Jordan Hospital:

Jordan Hospital is a not-for-profit organization serving 12-towns in Plymouth and Barnstable Counties. Established in 1901, Jordan Hospital is a full service, 155-bed, acute care community hospital accredited by The Joint Commission the Commission of Laboratory Accreditation of the College of American Pathologists; the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, and the American College of Radiology. For more information, visit www.jordanhospital.org/.