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Diarrhea and Colitis in Clindamycin-Treated Surgical Patients
Robert E. Condon, MD;
Mary Jane Anderson, RN
Arch Surg. 1978;113(7):794-797.
Abstract
• Responding to reports that diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis occurred relatively frequently among patients who received clindamycin, we initiated a program of surveillance in clindamycin-treated patients, including direct examination of the colon mucosa for inflammation or pseudomembranes and a patient follow-up by a nurse-epidemiologist. Observation of 145 patients having 161 consecutive clindamycin treatment episodes determined that unexplained diarrhea (two or more stools per day) occurred in 30 patients (21%), and more severe diarrhea (five or more stools per day) occurred in 12 patients (8%). Colitis was not identified at all. The absence of pseudomembranes was confirmed by direct examination of colon mucosa in 114 patients. Development of disabling diarrhea or colitis in association with clindamycin therapy is not a universal phenomenon.
(Arch Surg 113:794-797, 1978)
Author Affiliations
From the Surgical Service, Wood Veterans Administration Center, Wood, Wis (Dr Condon and Ms Anderson), and the Division of Surgery, the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (Dr Condon).
Footnotes
Accepted for publication March 14, 1978.
Reprints not available.
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES
Moxalactam vs Tobramycin-Clindamycin: A Randomized Trial in Secondary Peritonitis
Stellato et al.
Arch Surg 1988;123:714-717.
ABSTRACT
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