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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffAntibiotic-associated diarrhea describes frequent, watery bowel movements (diarrhea) that occur in response to medications used to treat bacterial infections (antibiotics).
Most often, antibiotic-associated diarrhea is mild and clears up shortly after you stop taking the antibiotic. But in some cases, antibiotic-associated diarrhea leads to colitis, an inflammation of your colon, or a more serious form of colitis called pseudomembranous colitis. Both can cause abdominal pain, fever and bloody diarrhea.
Mild antibiotic-associated diarrhea may not require treatment. More serious antibiotic-associated diarrhea may require stopping or switching antibiotic medications.
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- Diarrhea. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/diarrhea/#treated. Accessed March 27, 2013.
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- LaMont JT. Clostridium difficile in adults: Epidemiology, microbiology, and pathophysiology. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed March 25, 2013.
- Rebmann T, et al. Preventing Clostridium difficile infections: An executive summary of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology's elimination guide. American Journal of Infection Control. 2011;39:239.
- Surawicz CM, et al. Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of Clostridium difficile infections. The American Journal of Gastroenterology. In press. Accessed March 25, 2013.
- Wanke CA. Approach to the adult with acute diarrhea in developed countries. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed April 2, 2013.
- Hempel S, et al. Probiotics for the Prevention and Treatment of Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2012;307:1959.
- Rohren CH (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. April 8, 2013.
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