Following the greater than 90% success rate for treating C. diff with fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), there is a growing interest in treating a variety of other conditions involving altered gut microbiota.
But will the same treatment work for SIBO?
Currently, there are only a few published studies on the effectiveness of FMT for treating SIBO related conditions. Preliminary trials of FMT for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) were reviewed by Drs Olga Aroniadis and Lawrence Brandt (https://1.usa.gov/1DF4qMS) and Dr Thomas Borody (https://1.usa.gov/1JV1EIf), the father of FMT.
Depending on the symptoms being measured, the effectiveness of FMT for IBS was between 50% and 70%.
There is a good chance that this treatment may prove very useful for SIBO. Whether or not it can actually cure SIBO is an open question, and I believe that identifying and addressing the underlying cause(s) of SIBO should be part of the solution. Otherwise it could return. The Fast Tract Digestion IBS book cover these underlying causes and how to address them.
SIBO is complicated as the overgrowing bacteria represent multiple members of the normal intestinal microbiota as oppose to single pathogenic bacterial species in the case of D. diff.