Mechanical bowel preparation, is it currently justified? Review article

Abstract

Bowel preparation has been used in colon and rectal surgery for a variety of reasons. A clean colon is thought to facilitate bowel manipulation, enable passage and firing of surgical staplers, and allow for intraoperative colonoscopy, if needed. The most studied and debated aspect of bowel preparation, however, is its role in reducing surgical morbidity, namely surgical site infections (SSIs). Colon and rectal surgery has among the highest rates of SSIs reported for all types of elective surgery, with recent reviews demonstrating rates varying from 5.4% to 23.2%, with a weighted mean of 11.4%.(1)