[Evaluation of rapid colon preparation by oral intake of dulcolax for colorectal surgery].

The optimal result of colorectal surgery is best achieved by adequate preoperative colon preparation, which should be simple, safe, rapid, and thoroughly clean with little or no discomfort at all for patients. Conventional mechanical preparation, though effective, is time-consuming and unpleasant for patients, therefore new methods have been frequently presented in recent literature to meet the above ideal. A prospective and randomized study was conducted to evaluate preoperative colon preparation in elective, nonobstructive colorectal surgery. Group I included 32 patients who received three-day diet control and enema, while group II included 42 patients who received one-day diet control and oral dulcolax. Both groups were given systemic antibiotics. The result favored group II because of its significantly less abdominal fullness, but the electrolyte change and bacteriologic study revealed no significant difference between two groups. Neither did they exhibit variance in the adequacy of bowel cleansing (81.3% in group I vs 81% in group II). It is therefore suggested that, without enema and with less abdominal fullness, oral dulcolax should be encouraged for colon preparation in colorectal surgery.