Randomized, controlled comparison of two forms of preparation for screening flexible sigmoidoscopy.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Bisacodyl.

There is a paucity of data regarding the optimal form of bowel preparation for flexible sigmoidoscopy.

Their objective in this study was to evaluate a simple oral form of preparation for screening flexible sigmoidoscopy.

Who Took Part

PubMed indexes the participants as middle-aged adults and older adults, men only.

In this randomized, single-blind, controlled trial, the researchers compared two forms of preparation in consecutive male patients referred for screening flexible sigmoidoscopy.

Thirty-seven patients received the oral preparation [mean age, 62.8 +/- 8.9 (SD) yr]; 33 received enemas (mean age, 65.2 +/- 7.3 yr).

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized and single-blind.

Because people in this Bisacodyl study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

In this single-blind Bisacodyl study one party knew the assignments and the other did not.

The oral preparation consisted of one bottle of magnesium citrate and two "Dulcolax" tablets on the evening before flexible sigmoidoscopy.

This was compared with the standard form of preparation, namely, two Fleet's enemas given on arrival at the endoscopy suite.

Endoscopists were blinded to the preparation.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Bisacodyl, Cathartics, Citrates, Magnesium Compounds, Mass Screening, Patient Satisfaction and Phosphates.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and single-blind study of Bisacodyl.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 8 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 1997 (The American journal of gastroenterology), a journal based in United States.

More context: all human trials.