Polyethylene glycol 3350 without electrolytes: A new safe, effective, and palatable bowel preparation for colonoscopy in children☆
Section snippets
Patients
Children (age 2-19 years) undergoing colonoscopy were eligible for the study. Patients were excluded if they had known allergy to PEG, had metabolic or renal disease, or required emergency colonoscopy. Patients (n = 46) were enrolled in the study over a period of 8 months from August 2002 to April 2003. The main indications for colonoscopy included diarrhea (33%), abdominal pain (30%), and blood in stools (26%). Colonoscopies were performed by one of the authors under conscious sedation with
Results
Forty-six children (24 male) completed the study; the mean age was 11.2 years (range, 2.8-17.8), and the mean weight was 44 kg (range, 12.1-87.8). The average dose of PEG solution per day was 870 mL (range, 240-1440). Children used two different beverages on average (range, one to six) to prepare the PEG solution. The beverages used were fruit juices (30), water (12), sports drinks (11), Kool-Aid (Kraft Foods; 11), carbonated soft drinks (10), lemonade (9), Crystal Light (Kraft Foods; 8), and
Discussion
This study shows that electrolyte-free PEG can be used as an effective, safe, and palatable bowel preparation in children. Similar to results in previous reports,7., 8., 9., 10. PEG administration led to an increase in stool frequency and a liquid stool consistency in all children. This laxative effect was significant on the second day of therapy, and by the fourth day, all patients had frequent watery stools. Colon preparations were rated as excellent or good in 91% of patients in the right
Acknowledgements
We thank Kathy Bell and Jacque Comstock for their assistance in the study.
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Supported in part by Braintree Laboratories, Braintree, Massachusetts.