Table 2.

Adverse events in published series of more than 5 patients receiving FMT for C. difficile infection

1st Author	No.	Method of delivery	Follow-up	Adverse events
Van Nood4	16	Duodenal infusion	70 days	Diarrhea—5, abdominal cramps—5, belching—3, nausea—1; symptoms resolved in all within 3 hours
Youngster44	20	Nasogastric tube or colonoscopy	6 mos	Mild abdominal discomfort/bloating—4; transient fever (day 2)—1
Rubin97	75	Nasogastric tube	60 days	No adverse events or deaths
MacConnachie27	15	Nasogastric tube	4–24 wks	No adverse events “related to transplant”; upper gastrointestinal bleeding during 1st month post-FMT
Aas98	18	Nasogastric tube	90 days	Peritonitis in patient on peritoneal dialysis on day 3 (died “shortly thereafter”); pneumonia in patient with COPD (died on day 14)
Mattila35	70	Colonoscopy	1 yr	No complications
Hamilton99	43	Colonoscopy	1 yr	No serious adverse events; approximately one-third noted irregular bowel movements and excessive flatulence during 1st couple of weeks after FMT
Patel100	31	Colonoscopy	1 yr	1 complication: “microperforation” from colonoscopic biopsy which resolved without surgery
Yoon101	12	Colonoscopy	3 wks – 8 yrs	No adverse events
Pathak102	12	Colonoscopy—11; nasoduodenal–1	2–29 mos	No complications of FMT
Dutta103	27	Enteroscopy + colonoscopy	10–34 mos	Low grade fever—5, bloating—3; resolved within 12–24 hrs
Lee104	94	Enema	6–24 mos	No significant adverse events; 10% experienced transient constipation and excessive flatulence
Emanuelsson105	23	Rectal catheter	23	“A few” patient experienced temporary constipation (apparently soon after FMT)
Silverman106	7	Enema	4–14 mos	No adverse events but reported 1 patient with “post-infectious” irritable bowel syndrome (mixed pattern)
Schwartz107	13	Colonoscopy	Not stated	Norovirus—2 (2 days and 12 days after FMT); authors speculated person-to-person rather than FMT transmission
Kelly43*	80	Mixed	12 wks	Potentially related adverse events Death: aspiration during colonoscopy with respiratory failure Hospitalizations: IBD flares—4, post-colonoscopy abdominal pain—1; fever, diarrhea, encephalopathy, pancytopenia in lymphoma patient—1 Non-serious adverse events: abdominal pain/bloating immediately following FMT—3; “mucosal tear” at colonoscopy—1; self-limited diarrhea-3, fever—1, IBD flare–1

^*Immunocompromised patients (e.g., immunosuppressive therapy for IBD, organ transplant, cancer with antineoplastic therapy)