A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Low-Residue Diet Versus Clear Liquid Diet: Which Is Better for Bowel Preparation Before Colonoscopy?
Rui Wu, Wen-Ya Ji, Cheng Yang and 1 others
PMID 34238885WHAT IT FOUND
Before colonoscopy, low-residue diet showed no difference in bowel preparation quality compared with clear liquid diet.
Patients tolerated it better, were more willing to repeat it, and had less hunger, nausea and vomiting.
Key findings
01Adequate bowel preparation was achieved in 86.4% of low-residue diet participants and 83.5% of clear liquid diet participants, with no significant difference.
02Participants were more likely to tolerate the low-residue diet (81.8% vs 71.8%) and to say they would repeat it (84.8% vs 70.9%).
03Hunger, nausea, and vomiting were more common in the clear liquid diet group, while abdominal pain or discomfort did not differ between diets.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The trials used different definitions of adequate bowel preparation and different bowel preparation scales. The low-residue diets, laxatives, timing, and split-dose methods varied across trials. Only English full-text randomized trials were included, so relevant non-English or unpublished trials may have been missed. Patients were not blinded to the diet, although researchers and outcome assessors were blinded. Most trials had sample sizes of 200 participants, and three had sample sizes of 100. Only one trial was in children, and the other studies had mean ages between 51 and 65 years, so the findings apply mainly to adults.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the low-residue diet improves bowel cleansing. The primary bowel preparation outcome showed no significant difference. The benefit was mainly in patient tolerance and fewer symptoms.