Abstract
Metronidazole has a benign side effect profile during normal therapeutic
use. An 84-year-old woman presented with recurrence of Clostridium
difficile infection (CDI). She had received oral vancomycin 5 weeks ago
and was prescribed oral metronidazole. There was progressive
neutropaenia from day 1 of treatment. Metronidazole was stopped on day 8
and vancomycin was prescribed. Causality assessment via Naranjo
algorithm demonstrated a probable adverse effect (8/10) in favour of
metronidazole. Very severe neutropaenia on day 16 prompted
administration of granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GCSF) for 72
hours. This resulted in transient neutrophilia which confirmed bone
marrow integrity and supported a diagnosis of drug-induced
myelosuppression. The neutrophil count slowly recovered to normal levels
after 4 weeks. To our knowledge, this is the 4th report of metronidazole
induced severe neutropenia (levels <1 x10⁹/L). Unlike previous
reports, we confirmed bone marrow integrity using GCSF. Unique to our
case are the degree of neutrophil suppression and slow recovery of
marrow function with a reversed neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio for
>21 days.