Avoiding Premature Antibiotic Use in Recurrent Clostridioides difficile Infection After Fecal Microbiota Transplant

Recurrent <i>Clostridioides difficile</i> infection (rCDI) remains a major clinical challenge, often requiring fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) after conventional treatment fails. An 86-year-old woman with rCDI underwent FMT after failing multiple antibiotic therapies. Shortly after FMT, she experienced diarrhea and abdominal pain, alongside positive <i>C. difficile</i> stool tests. Antibiotics were withheld because of clinical improvement, and she achieved complete resolution of symptoms without further treatment. This case demonstrates the potential benefit of withholding antibiotics in rCDI patients soon after FMT to allow sufficient time for donor microbiota engraftment and underscores the need for further research to optimize post-FMT management.