[Evaluation of efficacy of mechanical bowel preparation in colorectal surgery].

Mechanical bowel preparation (MBP) is commonly used for preparing patients before elective colorectal surgery. MBP has long been considered indispensable for the prevention of complications, especially of the infectious ones. There is little scientific evidence demonstrating the efficiency of this practice in reducing the rate of infectious complications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of MBP in colorectal surgery. A prospective non randomized study analyzed 99 patients divided into two groups (60 with and 39 without MBP) which underwent colonic surgery finished with anastomosis. Anastomotic fistulas rate was 5% in the group with MBP and 2.5% in the one without MBP, parietal suppuration appeared in 15% of the patients with MBP and in 15% of those without MBP. There was a single intraperitoneal abscess in the group with MBP. Recent randomised clinical studies evaluating MBP in elective colorectal surgery were unable to show its benefits or real effects when compared with the operations without preparation. Colorectal surgery without MBP can be safely performed having the same or even better results than the one with MBP.