A study of patients who experienced Clostridium difficile colitis (CDC) following cystectomy found that the infection did not significantly affect patients’ hospital course.
Lincoln T. Olsen, MD, and his collaborators at the University of Kansas in Kansas City reviewed records of 192 patients who underwent cystectomy (79% for bladder cancer, 11% for neurogenic bladder, 5.2% for interstitial cystitis, and 4.6% for other indications). CDC developed in 14 patients (7.3%).
Compared with patients who did not suffer CDC, those who did have it had a slightly, but not significantly, longer length of hospital stay (13.4 vs. 12.6 days). The CDC group and non-CDC groups also had similar ICU lengths of stay (3.6 vs. 3.0 days) and number of days to be able to tolerate a regular diet (10.9 vs. 10.0). The indication for surgery did not predict development of CDC.
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