Review: gut sterilization in inflammatory bowel disease.

Achieving a substantial reduction in the bacterial flora of the gut is a theoretically attractive means of treating inflammatory bowel disease, particularly colonic disease. There are practical difficulties in obtaining a sustained reduction of the colonic bacterial count, and the potential role of such a treatment regimen is therefore the initiation of remission. The data in the literature supporting such a suggestion are anecdotal, and a controlled study is indicated.