What is the purpose of fecal transplants?

The purpose of performing a fecal transplant is to treat recurrent Clostridium difficile colitis infection in a patient when antibiotic therapy proves ineffective, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. As of 2013, this is the only condition for which fecal transplant is routinely indicated.

One of the reasons fecal transplants are recognized as a potential treatment for recurrent C. difficile infection is that physicians recognize that antibiotic treatment perturbs the intestinal microflora in patients, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Infection with C. difficile bacteria recurs in approximately 30 percent of patients who receive antibiotic treatment, claims Johns Hopkins Medicine.