Reduction in bowel program duration with polyethylene glycol based bisacodyl suppositories.

UNLABELLED: The neurogenic bowel caused by spinal cord injury frequently requires a bowel program (BP) with stimulant suppositories for effective defecation.

OBJECTIVE

The effectiveness of bowel programs initiated by hydrogenated vegetable oil based bisacodyl (HVB) suppositories was compared with that of polyethylene glycol based bisacodyl suppositories (PGB).

DESIGN

Single subject, randomized treatment.

SETTING

Outpatient.

SUBJECT: Chronic T2 complete spinal cord injury (SCI).

INTERVENTION: The suppository for the every third-day BP was randomized to PGB or HVB. The times in minutes of the following BP events were recorded: suppository insertion, first flatus, begin stool flow, end stool flow, and transfer off toilet.

OUTCOME MEASURES: BP event times were used to derive BP intervals: suppository insertion to first flatus = Time to Flatus, first flatus until begin stool flow = Flatus to Stool Flow, begin stool flow until end stool flow = Defecation Period, end stool flow until the transfer off the toilet = Wait Until Transfer, and suppository insertion until transfer off the toilet = Total BP Time. The number of digital stimulations required and the amount of stool results were recorded.

RESULTS

The data included two groups of BPs: HVB (N = 13) and PGB (N = 13). Wilcoxon's rank sum tests were used to compare mean times for each of the BP intervals: Time to Flatus (HVB 37 minutes, PGB 10 minutes, p < .0001), Flatus to Stool Flow (HVB 6.0 minutes, PGB 5.9 minutes, p = .9578), and the Defecation Period (HVB 31, PGB 21, p = .0043).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)