I should have asked more specific questions at a recent GI appointment, but they didn't occur to me at the time. My son was just dxd with an acute infection of pouch tissues at the lower end (visible through anus). He had elevated sed rate, CRP, and other indicators of infection in his labs. When I asked what caused it, the doctor said it was from stool. It is being treated and apparently is responding to Kelfex and Proctofoam. So I'm assuming this is not "pouchitis" per se, but has anyone else had this type of infection? If so, was it a one-time thing?

Nothing you mentioned would indicate this was anything other than pouchitis. Sed rate and CRP elevations do not indicate infection, but inflammation, and they are non-specific. And, I believe the white cell elevation mention in the previous post is also an indication of inflammation, not infection. Since most pouchitis responds to antibiotics, even that is not an indicator.

I would assume this was pouchitis, especially with the proctofoam, which would not be a treatment for infection.

Jan

Hmm--the doctor called it an acute infection and noted the swollen tissue, which is why I guess I'm confused. Maybe he uses the "infection" and "pouchitis" interchangeably? Or maybe "pouchitis" is an umbrella that actually covers a variety of inflammation causes? Also, Cipro, which has worked for PI for him in the past, had no apparent effect after six days, but the Keflex/steroid combo seems to be working.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Connie,

Perhaps interchangable use of infection/pouchitis. Sometimes docs can oversimplify their descriptions, not realizing we will take them literally. For me, the distinction was in the elevated eosinophils, which is a type of white blood cell that is elevated in allergic reactions, autoimmune disease (like IBD flares), and the like. Infections associated with eosinophilia are usually parasitic or fungal, not bacterial.

I guess it does not really matter as long as the treatment is effective.

Jan

OK, thanks for the clarification. Have not gotten O&P results yet.