THE PALATABILITY OF 5 COLONIC LAVAGE SOLUTIONS

Background: Many patients dislike the taste and saltiness of polyethyl ene glycol-electrolyte colonic lavage solutions, Several commercially available lavage solutions have been introduced with reduced salt cont ent or flavouring added in an attempt to improve palatability and to e ncourage patient compliance. Aim: To determine which of the commercial ly available lavage solutions are the most palatable. Methods: A taste test of the five commercially available lavage solutions was performe d by two groups of subjects: (a) adult patients scheduled to undergo c olonoscopy (n = 50) and (b) adult family members of patients scheduled to undergo colonoscopy and hospital volunteers (n = 50), Subjects sam pled all five products and were asked to grade the taste and saltiness , and to rank them in their overall order of preference. Results: Simi lar findings were observed in the two groups of subjects. Colyte-Flavo red, Cherry-NuLytely, NuLytely and GoLytely had similar median taste s cores and a similar frequency of taste scores labelled as 'unacceptabl e' (8-11%); these four products ranked ahead of plain Colyte (which ha d a 25% frequency of taste scores labelled as 'unacceptable'). However , in the ranking phase of the study, about three-quarters of the subje cts preferred a flavoured lavage solution to an unflavoured one. Colyt e-Flavored and Cherry-NuLytely rated almost equal. Twenty-two per cent of subjects rated an unflavoured lavage solution (generally NuLytely or GoLytely) as their first choice, This included a subset of subjects who disliked the flavoured solutions and greatly preferred an unflavo ured product. Conclusions: Four of the five commercially available pro ducts studied received similar taste scores. However, in the direct co mparison phase of the study, a majority of subjects expressed a prefer ence for a flavoured lavage solution. On the other hand, about one in five subjects expressed a dislike for the available flavoured solution s and preferred an unflavoured one.