Table 3. Practical aspects of FMT administration. (Adapted from ²⁰,²¹).

Criteria	Details
Donor selection	Screening questionnaire	People > 60 years of age, those with recent antibiotic use (within six weeks), those with significant risk factors for blood-borne viruses, recent constitutional illness, and/ or recent travel to countries with high rates of infectious diarrhoea are typically excluded from further assessment.
	Medical questionnaire	People with personal/ family history of disorders associated with perturbation of the gut microbiota (including inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, metabolic syndrome, autoimmune disorders and/ or gastrointestinal malignancy) are typically excluded from further assessment.
	Laboratory testing, repeated at regular intervals, typically includes:	Blood screening	Hepatitis A serology. Hepatitis B serology and hepatitis B DNA. Hepatitis C serology and hepatitis C RNA. HIV-1 and -2 and HTLV-1 and -2 serology. Syphilis serology. Cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr Virus serology. Entamoeba histolytica serology. Strongyloides stercoralis serology.
		Stool screening	Microscopy, culture and sensitivity for enteric bacteria (at least three samples over three separate days). Analysis for ova, cysts and parasites (at least three samples over three separate days). Acid-fast staining for Cyclospora, Isospora and Cryptosporidium. Screening for carriage of antibiotic-resistant organisms, e.g. carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae. Clostridium difficile toxin and PCR Analysis for Rotavirus and Adenovirus. Helicobacter pylori faecal antigen.
Choice of recipients	Indications		Recurrent/ relapsing CDI. Limited data regarding efficacy in severe/ fulminant CDI colitis.
	Contraindications		There are only a small number of absolute contraindications, e.g. life-threatening food allergy. FMT seems to have similar efficacy (and no additional infective complications) when given to immunocompromised individuals including solid organ transplant recipients, recipients of recent chemotherapy, people with HIV infection and people with IBD taking B/ T cell immunomodulatory therapy18.
Transplant preparation	Typically >50-60g of stool is mixed with 250-300ml of diluent (most often saline), before filtering of the slurry. The exact protocols used vary between different centres. Transplants are either prepared from fresh stool on the day of delivery, or prepared in advance and frozen (using glycerol as bacterial cryopreservative) before thawing on the day19.
Transplant delivery	The transplant may be delivered either via the upper gastrointestinal route (gastroscopy/ nasogastric or nasoenteric tube), or the lower gastrointestinal route (enema, colonoscopy). Anti-Clostridial antibiotics are typically stopped 12-72 hours prior to transplant; a polyethylene glycol preparation may be given on day prior to administration. PPI and a prokinetic (i.e. metoclopramide) are often administered prior to upper gastrointestinal administration; loperamide is often administered after lower gastrointestinal administration to facilitate retention within colon.