Mechanical bowel preparation before elective colorectal surgery: Is it necessary? A prospective, randomized and controlled study

Abstract

Objective: The application of mechanical bowel preparation before colorectal surgery is a commonly used method among the colorectal surgeons. By this way, it is hoped to decrease the complications of colorectal surgery. In this study, we investigated the effects of bowel preparation on the complication rates of colorectal surgery.

Methods: A total of 100 patients who had elective colorectal surgery between January 2006 and December 2011 were included in the study. The patients were divided into two groups randomly. The operations were performed without mechanical bowel preparation in Group 1, while mechanical bowel preparation was performed in Group 2 before surgery. The number of patients in Group 1 and 2 were nearly same, 53 and 47, respectively. Both groups were operated by the same surgical team and surgical technique. Postoperative complication rates were compared between the groups.

Results: One anastomotic leakage and one intraabdominal abscess were observed in Group 1. There was no significant difference between the groups (p=0.288 and p=0.288). The time to first defecation was 3.2±0.9 days in Group 1 and 3.3±0.7 days in Group 2 after surgery. There was no significant difference between the groups (p=0.521).

Conclusion: There was no difference on mortality or morbidity rates between the groups.