Lactulose vs. Polyethylene Glycol as Bowel Preparation for Colonoscopy in Adults
Status:
Recruiting
Trial end date:
2023-07-23
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Colonoscopy is the gold standard in bowel assessment when there is suspicion of colon and
rectum pathology. Bowel cleansing is necessary to ensure an optimal visualization of colonic
mucosa, allowing this form of detection and removal of polyps. Nowadays international
recommendations have multiple bowel preparations. There are differences among them regarding
adherence, tolerance and adverse effects. Lactulose (LAC) is widely used in treating
constipation. However, there are some randomized clinical assays using LAC as bowel
preparation with excellent results according to bowel preparation and tolerance scales.
Adherence to bowel preparation significantly affects the result in the endoscopic study.
Safety of polyethylene glycol (PEG) formulations has been validated in several studies, it
presents little severe side effects and the advantage of its applicability to patients with
several comorbidities (heart, liver and kidney without water deprivation). However, its main
disadvantage lies in the need to ingest large amounts of liquid (3-4L), generating
intolerance thereto in 15%-45% of patients.
Bowel cleansing preparation with PEG is widely used in clinical practice. Considering that
according to international studies reporting better tolerance and adherence with LAC; it is
suggested to compare the level of bowel preparation, tolerance and adherence between two
groups with LAC and PEG.