To evaluate the effectiveness of fecal transplantation (FT) in preventing the development of diversion colitis (DC) and reducing its complications in patients who underwent protective loop ileostomy (PLI) following low anterior resection for rectal cancer. The study was prospectively conducted at Tertiary Hospital. Seventeen patients who underwent PLI were assigned to the FT group (FT+), and 19 patients served as the control group (FT-). In the FT+ group, ileal content was delivered to the efferent loop via a catheter placed during surgery. Both groups were evaluated postoperatively through biopsies taken for histopathological examination. In the FT+ group, significant reductions were observed in parameters specific to DC, such as the severity of inflammation, ulceration, goblet cell loss, and crypt abscesses, compared to the FT- group (p < 0.05). The epithelial structure and crypt organization in the FT+ group were closer to normal. FT is an effective and easily applicable method for preventing DC development and reducing the severity of inflammatory changes in patients undergoing PLI. The technique is low-cost, has high patient compliance, and aligns with methods reported in the literature for DC prevention.
Cakir et al. (Thu,) studied this question.