Is frozen fecal microbiota transplantation as effective as fresh fecal microbiota transplantation in patients with recurrent or refractory Clostridium difficile infection: A meta-analysis?

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a remarkably efficacious therapy for recurrent or refractory Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), but not standardized. This work is to determine whether frozen FMT is as effective as fresh FMT. Meta-analysis showed that frozen FMT was as effective as fresh FMT, both pooled first effective rate (65.0% (95% CI 57.0-73.0%) vs. 65.0% (95% CI 57.0-73.0%), P = 0.962) and pooled second effective rate (95.0% (95% CI 91.0-99.0%) vs. 95.0% (95% CI 92.0-99.0%), P = 0.880). In conclusion, among patients with recurrent or refractory CDI, frozen FMT is as effective as fresh FMT. Considering potential advantages of performing frozen FMT, it is a reasonable option to select frozen FMT.