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Complications
By Mayo Clinic staffBy the time your doctor detects pseudomembranous colitis, you may already be seriously ill. If the condition isn't successfully treated at the time of diagnosis, a number of complications can develop, including:
- Abnormally low levels of potassium in your blood (hypokalemia), due to the loss of potassium during excessive diarrhea
- Dehydration leading to abnormally low blood pressure (hypotension), related to significant loss of fluids and electrolytes due to diarrhea
- Kidney failure, due to severe dehydration resulting from diarrhea
- A hole in your bowel (perforated colon), which can lead to an infection of your abdominal cavity
- Toxic megacolon, a rare but serious distension of the colon, leaving it incapable of expelling gas and stool, which could cause your colon to rupture
Most people respond well to treatment, but pseudomembranous colitis can be fatal without effective treatment.
- Pseudomembranous colitis. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2011. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=aboutPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05610-6..C2009-0-38600-6--TOP&isbn=978-0-323-05610-6&uniq=210978719. Accessed Aug. 5, 2010.
- Kelly CP, et al. Antibiotic-associated diarrhea, pseudomembranous enterocolitis and Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea and colitis. In: Feldman M, et al. Sleisinger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/linkTo?type=bookHome&isbn=978-1-4160-6189-2&eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-6189-2..X0001-7--TOP&uniq=200844987-3. Accessed Aug. 5, 2010.
- Thielman NM, et al. Antibiotic-associated colitis. In: Mandell GL, et al. Mandell, Douglas and Bennett's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone; 2009. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=aboutPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06839-3..X0001-X--TOP&isbn=978-0-443-06839-3&uniq=213242872. Accessed Aug. 5, 2010.
- Diarrhea. ADA Nutrition Care Manual. http://nutritioncaremanual.org/topic.cfm?ncm_heading=Nutrition%20Care&ncm_toc_id=19099. Accessed Aug. 6, 2010.
- Parkes GC, et al. The mechanisms and efficacy of probiotics in the prevention of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea. Lancet Infectious Diseases. 2009;9:237.
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