Nair et al identified factors associated with treatment failure in a patient with Clostridium difficile colitis. The authors are from Our Lady of Mercy University Medical Center and New York Medical College in the Bronx.
Factors associated with initial treatment failure or relapse:
(1) low serum albumin (< 2.5 g/dL)
(2) continuation or restarting of the antibiotics that were the predisposing factor
An additional risk factor depends on the antibiotic therapy used to treat the Clostridium difficile disease:
(1) inappropriate antibiotic selection
(2) inappropriate dose of antibiotic
(3) inappropriate duration
(4) virulent strain of Clostridium difficile
(5) resistance to vancomycin or metronidazole
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