High- Versus Low-Volume Polyethylene Glycol Plus Laxative Versus Sennosides for Colonoscopy Preparation in Children

Objective:Many protocols of bowel preparation are available for use in children; however, none of them is commonly accepted. The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and acceptability of high-volume polyethylene glycol (PEG) versus low-volume PEG combined with bisacodyl (BPEG) versus sennosides for colonoscopy preparation in children.Methods:Participants ages 10 to 18 years were randomly assigned to receive either PEG 60 or PEG 30 mL kg(-1) day(-1) plus oral bisacodyl 10 to 15 mg/day or sennosides 2 mg kg(-1) day(-1) for 2 days. A blinded assessment of bowel cleansing was made by the endoscopist according to the Aronchick and Ottawa scales. Patient acceptability was evaluated with the visual-analog scale. Analysis was done on an available case analysis basis.Results:Of 240 patients enrolled in the study 234 patients were available for analysis of the efficacy of colon cleansing. There were no significant differences found among the 3 groups for the proportions of participants with excellent/good (PEG: 35/79, BPEG: 26/79, sennosides 25/76) and poor/inadequate (PEG: 20/79, BPEG: 28/79, sennosides 28/76) bowel preparation evaluated with the Aronchick scale and for the mean Ottawa total score (PEG: 5.473.63, BPEG: 6.22 +/- 3.3, sennosides: 6.18 +/- 3.53). Acceptability of bowel cleansing protocol was similar in all of the groups (P=0.8).Conclusions:All 3 cleansing methods showed similar efficacy and tolerability; however, none of them was satisfactory.