Faecal transplant for irritable bowel syndrome does not improve symptoms at 12 weeks, but route of administration may play a part, a systematic review and meta-analysis suggests.

Pooling data from four randomised controlled trials with 254 participants, the US authors found no difference between people given a faecal microbiota transplant (FMT) and those given placebo.

At 12 weeks after transplant, 49% of those receiving donor faecal material reported an improvement of global IBS symptoms, compared with 51% of those assigned to placebo, the authors wrote in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

The four studies had different approaches to treatment administration: two used donor faeces and a placebo consisting of the patient’s own faeces, delivered either via colonscopy or nasojejunal tube.