Efficacy of prolonged tapered and pulsed vancomycin regimen on recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection in the Japanese setting: a case control study

• Main Authors: Takumi Umemura, Aiko Ota, Yoshikazu Mutoh, Chihiro Norizuki, Takahito Mizuno, Koji Kozaki, Yoshiaki Ikeda, Toshihiko Ichihara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2019-08-01
• Series: Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Care and Sciences
• Subjects: Vancomycin; Vancomycin tapered and pulsed dose regimen; Clostridioides difficile infection
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40780-019-0147-1

Abstract Background According to the Clinical Practice Guidelines for Clostridioides difficile, oral vancomycin is to be used in vancomycin tapered and pulsed regimen (VCM-TP) for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). However, data on the efficacy of VCM-TP in Japanese patients with recurrent CDI are scarce. To address this gap, we investigated the efficacy of VCM-TP and performed a case-controlled study to assess the risk factors associated with treatment failure in these patients. Findings We conducted this study on all patients who were administered VCM-TP for recurrent episodes of CDI between January 2008 and December 2018 at Tosei General Hospital. All patients had documented follow-ups within 90 days after completion of the VCM-TP. Data were obtained for comparative analysis of treatment success or failure. Thirty-six patients were eligible for this study, and treatment success was documented in 23 patients (63.9%) following VCM-TP treatment. Treatment success was documented in 22 of 30 (73.3%) patients who received the recommended therapy according to the Clinical Practice Guidelines. The frequency of patients treated with the recommended therapy was higher in the treatment success group (95.7%) than in the treatment failure group (61.5%) (OR: 13.75, 95% CI: 1.39–136.39, p = 0.016). Vancomycin-resistant enterococci culture tests were performed in 20 patients (55.6%), and all results were negative. Conclusions Our findings suggest that VCM-TP is a good therapeutic option for recurrent CDI in Japanese patients. Furthermore, administration of the recommended VCM-TP is important for achieving a high rate of treatment success. Hence, antimicrobial stewardship teams should support the implementation of recommended VCM-TPs.