Faecal transplantation has been gaining momentum as a mainstream treatment over recent years, but now a systematic review published in the MJA puts it ahead of antibiotics in effectiveness against Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea.

The literature search examined all the randomised controlled trials on the topic up until February this year, including some recently published studies, and concluded there was moderate quality evidence that faecal microbiota transplantation is more effective in patients with Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea than either vancomycin or placebo.