WHOLE-GUT IRRIGATION OR FORDTRAN SOLUTION FOR BOWEL PREPARATION IN ELECTIVE COLORECTAL SURGERY - A PROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDY

In a prospective cohort study, which was carried out at the department for abdominal surgery of the university of Mainz from June to Decembe r 1993, two methods of bowel preparation for elective colorectal surge ry were compared: oral bowel preparation with Fordtran a new polyethyl ene glycol solution (63 patients), and whole-gut lavage with Ringer's solution (37 patients). The serum chloride levels and the bodyweight i ncreased significantly more in the whole-gut lavage group. These patie nts also showed a higher frequency of vomiting during bowel preparatio n. Neither the bowel cleansing effect nor the postoperative complicati ons differed significantly between the two groups. Owing to these resu lts, the better patient acceptance, and the easier handling and lower costs of PEG solution, we recommend this method of preoperative bowel preparation for elective colorectal surgery.