What is Brainerds diarrhea and how is it diagnosed and treated?
- Brainerd’s diarrhea is an idiopathic syndrome of chronic diarrhea that has been epidemiologically associated with point-source outbreaks.
- First described in 1986 after an outbreak associated with raw milk consumption, most cases in the literature have resulted as part of outbreaks.
- Clinically, patients report a common onset of chronic diarrhea that is unresponsive to antibiotic therapies and negative microbiologic evaluations.
- One endoscopic study reported colonic epithelial lymphocytosis similar to collagenous and lymphocytic colitis was more prevalent among cases.
- A possible infectious etiologic factor is suspected but has not been corroborated.
- Opioid AMAs may be used to manage symptoms in a subset of patients.
