Clinical Medicine Insights: Gastroenterology

Aim: Chronic diarrhea with fecal incontinence (FI) is a severe, underreported, and intractable problem in many patients for which limited pharmaceutical options exist.

Methods: A retrospective case history was collected after the administration of a prescription medical food composed of serum-derived bovine immunoglobulin/protein isolate (SBI) at 5 g once daily in a patient with chronic mesenteric ischemia (CMI) for chronic loose, frequent, and urgent stools. The patient was an 84-year-old white male with a 20-year history of progressively worsening chronic diarrhea with six to eight watery stools per day (Bristol Stool Form Scale, Type 7), urgency, nocturnal diarrhea, FI, and postprandial abdominal discomfort before administration of SBI.

Results: After four weeks of SBI administration, the patient had two to three soft, semi-formed stools (Bristol Stool Form Scale, Types 4 and 5) per day with no nocturnal diarrhea, urgency, or FI, as well as full resolution of abdominal discomfort. In addition, the patient expressed an enhanced quality of life (QoL): able to travel, attend social events, and perform tasks not possible before therapy.

Conclusion: This case underscores how a safe, nutritional therapy may offer a new modality for physicians to address chronic loose, frequent stools with FI in patients with CMI in this difficult to manage gastrointestinal population.