Polyethylene glycol is better for bowel prep than sodium picosulfate plus magnesium citrate, Medscape reports.
Splitting the dosing over two days is also more effective than split dosing over one day.
Investigator Kirles Bishay, MD, from the University of Ottawa in Ontario, Canada, and colleagues assessed 141 patients scheduled to undergo colonoscopy assigning 70 to prep with polyethylene glycol and 71 to prep with sodium picosulfate plus magnesium citrate. Endoscopist were blind to the preparation methods.
Patients with appointments before 10 a.m. used the one day split dose, taking both doses the day before the operation. Patients with afternoon appointments used the two day split dose method. The patients took one dose the night before and the second dose five hours to six hours before the procedure.
Here's what you should know.
1. Mean Ottawa score was better for polyethylene glycol (4.11) than with the combination (5.11).
2. The rate of adequate prep was higher with polyethylene glycol (80 percent) than with the combination (60 percent).
3. Regardless of the agent, the two day split yielded significantly better results than the one day split. The two day split scored 3.68 while the one day scored 5.69.
Researchers presented the poster at Digestive Disease Week 2017, May 6 through May 9 in Chicago.