Bowel preparation at home: prospective study of adverse effects in elderly people

摘要

Bowel preparation for colonoscopy may be an unpleasant experience. Increasing pressure on hospital beds effectively precludes inpatient preparation except for the most immobile or infirm patients. Added costs and knowledge that preparation supervised in hospital may be less satisfactory than that done at home also counsel against inpatient preparation. However, the adverse effects of preparation at home may have hidden costs, and the likelihood of adverse effects may be particularly high in elderly people. We assessed the adverse effects of bowel preparation at home, and in particular whether elderly people suffer more than younger people.