Abstract

  The paper aims at providing a state-of-the-art review of the English medical literature punctuated by our own experience spread over 2 decades on pseudomembranous colitis (PMC) as a result of proliferation of the pathogen, Clostridium difficile, in the gut in children on antibiotics.

   Though antibiotic-associated colitis from C. difficile (the classical form) accounts for most cases of pseudomembranous colitis (inflammatory plaques on colonic mucosa) in practice, non-C. difficile PMC is also known. Over the recent decades, incidence of classical PMC has been showing increasing incidence because of massive overuse, nay abuse, of antibiotics.

   Usual manifestations include diarrhoea (often “bloody”), abdominal discomfort/pain/tenderness, fever, diarrhoeal dehydration and generalised weakness Confirmation of the clinical diagnosis is by demonstration of C. difficile in stools, lower endoscopy, procto-sigmoidoscopy, and imaging studies.

   Treatment comprises withdrawal of the offending antibiotic, drug therapy with metronidazole (or its prototypes), vancomycin, or fidaxomicin, or their varying combinations. In severe and recurrent cases, faecal transplantation may prove life-saving.

   Prophylaxis is in the form of hygienic measures and rational use of antibiotics and its propagation via antibiotic stewardship program. An cost-effective vaccine remains to be available for clinical use.

Keywords: Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea; Bloody Diarrhoea; Clostridium difficile; Diarrhoea; Fidaxomicin Metronidazole; Pseudomembranous Colitis; Vaccine; Vancomycin

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Citation

Citation: Suraj Gupte. “Pseudomembranous Colitis: Current Scenario in Paediatric Practice”.Acta Scientific Gastrointestinal Disorders 3.3 (2020): 09-13.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Suraj Gupte. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.