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Diverticulitis complicated by c diff

I had an episode of left sided pain and was put on a broad spectum antibiotic by my GP (previously dx with diverticulosis 6 months prior). I was nursing in a hospice and there was a huge outbreak of  c diff at the local hospital and there were patients being transferred to us so that is thought where I got c diff.  I was admitted to the emergency dept with high temp, WCC 19,000, severe generalised abdo pain, vomiting and explosive, offensive diarrhoea. I was commenced on gentamycin and cefuroxime in hosp and deteriorated to critical stage. I was being treated for diverticulitis only (not c diff).  4 days post admission it was found I had c diff and eventually discharged home on metronidazole.  After 4 more hosp admissions and an anterior resection and a defunctioning ileostomy for six months I question whether or not the gentamycin and cefuroxime caused more damage than good and why I wasnt given vancomyin as soon as it was know I was c diff pos as I had been metronidazole for several weeks by that time.
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Avatar universal
Appreciate what you are saying, but my question really is apart from the fact that they didn't even think of c diff on admission given my history and present symptoms, if I had all broad sprectrums stopped straight away and was started on Metronidazole AND vancomycin, would this have helped to prevent the horrible damage that was caused to my colon?  I think already having been on metro for some weeks would be considered a stepwise approach so why wasn't vancomycin then commenced?  As it was I was readmitted to another hospital 10 days post discharge with c diff again even whilst still taking metro.  They seemed to be so totally focused on the diverticulitis, they didn't even consider c diff (even though they had two major outbreaks in the past 6 months happening when I was admitted).
Bit complicated sorry!!
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Avatar universal
I can't address whether or not the gentamycin and cefuroxine caused any damage, but most docs will start out with flagyl as the treatment plan because vanco is considered the drug of last resort for C. diff. At this point in time there is nothing else known to treat C. diff and if vanco can't knock it out it can become very problematic. So they try to use a step-wise approach unless it's found early on that the strain you're carrying can't be touched by flagyl.
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