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Diarrhoea - antibiotic associated - Background information
What is it?
- Diarrhoea is a common consequence of treatment with antibiotics.
- Antibiotics can cause diarrhoea via one of the following mechanisms [Bartlett, 2002; Aronson, 2006]:
- Disruption of the bowel flora — the most common cause.
- As a direct effect of the antibiotic (independent of its antimicrobial effect) — for example erythromycin can increase the rate of gastric emptying by acting as a motilin receptor agonist.
- Overgrowth of Clostridium difficile (a Gram-positive, spore-forming, anaerobic bacillus) due to loss of bowel flora — less common.
- An allergic response to the antibiotic — rare.
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