| Level I | Good quality evidence |
Systematic review of RCTs with consistent findings High quality individual RCT |
| Level II |
Limited quality patient orientated evidence |
Systematic review of lower quality studies or studies with inconsistent findings Low quality clinical trial Cohort studies Case-control studies |
| Level III | Other |
Consensus guidelines, extrapolations from bench research, usual practice, opinion, disease-oriented evidence (intermediate or physiologic outcomes only), or case series |
[24] Antibiotic therapy for CDI (metronidazole oral/IV, vancomycin, oral): McDonald LC, Gerding DN, Johnson S, Bakken JS, Carroll KC, Coffin SE, Dubberke ER, Garey KW, Gould CV, Kelly C, Loo V, Shaklee Sammons J, Sandora TJ, Wilcox MH. Clinical Practice Guidelines for Clostridium difficile Infection in Adults and Children: 2017 Update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA). Clin Infect Dis. 2018 Mar 19;66(7):987-994. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29562266
Antibiotic therapy for CDI (metronidazole oral/IV, vancomycin, oral): Nelson RL, Suda KJ, Evans CT. Antibiotic treatment for Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017 Mar 3;3:CD004610. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28257555
Antibiotic therapy for CDI (metronidazole oral/IV, vancomycin, oral): Stevens VW, Nelson RE, Schwab-Daugherty EM, Khader K, Jones MM, Brown KA, Greene T, Croft LD, Neuhauser M, Glassman P, Goetz MB, Samore MH, Rubin MA. Comparative Effectiveness of Vancomycin and Metronidazole for the Prevention of Recurrence and Death in Patients With Clostridium difficile Infection. JAMA Intern Med. 2017 Apr 1;177(4):546-553. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28166328
Antibiotic therapy for CDI (metronidazole oral/IV, vancomycin, oral): National Department of Health: Affordable Medicines, EDP-Adult Hospital level. Medicine Review: Systemic antibiotics for Enterocolitis due to Clostridium difficile, August, 2018. http://www.health.gov.za/