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Colonoscopy is one of the methods of instrumental examination of the intestine, which allows timely detection and treatment of many serious pathologies. However, the accuracy of the study depends on how well the person prepared for the procedure. In this case, we are talking about bowel cleansing. If you do not follow the recommendations for cleansing the organ before colonoscopy, then visualization of the diagnosis will be seriously hampered. As a result, the doctor may not notice some inflammatory focus or a growing neoplasm, or not get a complete picture of the disease.
Preparing for a colonoscopy involves bowel cleansing, dieting, and fasting before the procedure. Equally important is the right mental attitude.
Preparing for a colonoscopy
The better a person prepares for a colonoscopy, the higher the information content of the study will be:
10 days before the procedure, it is necessary to stop taking iron preparations, from activated charcoal. It is also necessary to exclude drugs that thin the blood, which will avoid the development of bleeding.
If the patient has an artificial heart valve implanted, then a course of antibacterial drugs is recommended before the colonoscopy. This is necessary to prevent the development of bacterial endocarditis.
If the doctor allows, then before the colonoscopy, the patient can take an antispasmodic, for example, No-shpu.
Doctors recommend not taking drugs from the NSAID group and drugs to stop diarrhea (Lopedium, Imodium, etc.).
Be sure to clean the intestines, as well as stick to a diet. On the eve of the procedure, it is necessary to take a laxative (Fortrans, Lavacol, etc.).
Nutrition before colonoscopy
For 2-3 days before the upcoming procedure, the patient must adhere to a slag-free diet. Foods containing fiber should be excluded from the diet, as they can start fermentation processes in the intestines.
The diet before colonoscopy involves the following principles:
You need to stick to a diet for a short period of time, as it is defective and unbalanced in composition.
Be sure to drink enough water. Food should provide the body with energy, vitamins and trace elements.
From the menu, you need to exclude foods that are difficult to digest, or are capable of provoking fermentation processes in the intestines. Therefore, fatty and sinewy meat, sausage, refractory fats, smoked meats, marinades are removed from the diet. Do not eat fresh vegetables, mushrooms and herbs. The ban includes cereals, bread made from bran and rye flour, seeds and nuts, milk and dairy products, and alcoholic beverages.
The diet is based on broths, on dietary meats, soups and cereals.
You need to drink at least 1,5 liters of water per day.
Products are steamed or boiled. Roasting is prohibited.
Remove spicy and salty dishes from the menu.
Eat food in small portions, but often.
24 hours before the procedure, they switch to the use of liquid dishes. These can be soups, tea with honey, juices diluted with water, yoghurts and kefir.
Foods that can be eaten:
Poultry, veal, beef, fish and rabbit meat.
Dairy products.
Buckwheat and boiled rice.
Low-fat cheeses and cottage cheese.
White bread, biscuit cookies.
Green tea with honey without sugar.
Juice diluted with water and compote.
The following products should be excluded from the menu:
Barley and millet.
Lettuce leaves, paprika, cabbage, beets and carrots.
Beans and peas.
Raspberries and gooseberries.
Dried fruits and nuts.
Oranges, apples, tangerines, grapes, apricots, bananas and peaches.
Rye bread.
Sweets.
Carbonated drinks, coffee and milk.
An example of a menu to follow three days before a colonoscopy:
Breakfast: boiled rice and tea.
Snack: low-fat kefir.
Lunch: soup with vegetables and compote.
Snack: low-fat cheese.
Dinner: boiled fish, rice and a glass of tea.
An example of a menu to follow 2 days before a colonoscopy:
Breakfast: low-fat cottage cheese.
Snack: two crackers with tea.
Lunch: broth with a small piece of meat, steamed cabbage.
Snack: ryazhenka.
Dinner: boiled buckwheat and tea.
The day before the colonoscopy, the last meal should take place no later than 14 hours.
Cleansing procedures before colonoscopy
An obligatory stage of preparation for a colonoscopy is the process of bowel cleansing. It is implemented with the help of an enema or with the help of drugs. An enema is given on the eve of the study at least 2 times. Then 2 more times it is placed before the procedure itself.
For one approach, about 1,5 liters of water is injected into the intestines. To make the cleansing process mild, you can take a laxative 12 hours before the colonoscopy.
If the patient has rectal fissures or other pathologies of the organ, then it is forbidden to give him an enema. In this case, the administration of drugs aimed at gentle cleansing of the intestines is indicated.
Types of laxatives for colonoscopy
Laxatives are used to cleanse the intestines. They come to the rescue in cases where the enema is contraindicated.
Fortrans
This drug is designed specifically for the preparation of patients before surgery and examination of the digestive system.
Fortrans is an osmotic laxative that is used to treat chronic constipation and preoperative bowel cleansing.
Composition: salts (sodium and potassium), macrogol, soda, additive E 945.
pharmacological parameters. The drug is not absorbed into the blood, is not absorbed in the digestive tract. The effect occurs 1-1,5 hours after ingestion. The use of the next dose cuts this time in half.
Form and dosage. The drug is produced in the form of a powder, which is in sachets. Before taking 1 sachet is dissolved in a liter of water. For every 20 kg of weight, you need to take 1 sachet. The entire final volume is divided into 2 equal parts. The first half is drunk in the evening before the upcoming procedure, and the second half in the morning, 4 hours before the study.
Contraindications. Do not take the drug to people with heart failure, persons under the age of majority, patients with cancerous lesions of the digestive system.
Undesirable manifestations: vomiting.
The drug is produced in France. The cost of packaging is 450 rubles.
Lavacol
This drug is an analogue of the drug Fortrans. It is produced by the Moscow Pharmaceutical Factory. The price for a package of a medicinal product is 200 rubles.
Ingredients: macrogol, sodium sulfate, potassium chloride, sodium chloride and sodium bicarbonate.
pharmacological parameters. The drug has a laxative effect. Macrogol, after entering the intestine, retains water molecules, due to which the contents of the organ are quickly evacuated to the outside. Sodium and potassium salts prevent the development of electrolyte disturbances in the body.
Form and dosage. The drug is produced in powder form, for every 5 kg of weight, one sachet of the drug is taken, which is diluted in a glass of warm water. If you add a little syrup to the solution, the taste of the drug will improve significantly. Take a glass of solution every 15-30 minutes.
Contraindications: heart failure, intestinal obstruction, perforation of the gastric or intestinal walls, ulcers and erosion of the stomach or intestines, stomach stenosis, kidney disease.
Undesirable manifestations: nausea and vomiting, abdominal discomfort.
Moviprep
Moviprep is one of the most well-studied and widely used macrogol preparations worldwide. In Russia, he appeared 2 years ago. Its effectiveness has been confirmed by many clinical studies conducted in Europe, America and Japan. For 10 years of its existence in the pharmacological market, Moviprep has earned only positive reviews from experts.
Compared with similar drugs, Moviprep has the following advantages:
For high-quality bowel cleansing, you need to drink 2 times less solution, that is, not 4, but 2 liters.
The drug does not cause nausea and vomiting. Has a pleasant lemon taste.
Compound. Sachet A: macrogol, sodium sulfate, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, aspartame, lemon flavor, acesulfame potassium. Sachet B: ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbate.
pharmacological parameters. The drug causes moderate diarrhea, which allows you to qualitatively cleanse the intestines.
Form and dosage. The drug is taken orally. Sachets A and B are dissolved in a small amount of water, after which its volume is adjusted to 1 liter. Thus, you need to prepare another portion of the solution. As a result, you should get 2 liters of finished liquid. It can be drunk at a time (in the morning or in the evening before the cleansing procedure), or divided into 1 doses (one liter is taken in the evening, and the second part of the drink in the morning). The entire volume of the solution should be drunk within 2-1 hours, divided into equal portions. You should also supplement the liquid volumes with pulp-free juice, tea or coffee without milk in a volume of 2 liter. Stop drinking water two hours before the colonoscopy.
Contraindications: gastroparesis, intestinal obstruction, perforation of the walls of the stomach and intestines, phenylketonuria, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, toxic megacolon, age under 18 years, lack of consciousness, hypersensitivity to the components of the drug.
Undesirable manifestations: anaphylaxis, headaches, convulsions, dizziness, increased pressure, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, flatulence, skin itching and rashes, thirst, chills, malaise, changes in the blood picture.
The cost of the drug is 598-688 rubles.
Endofalk
This is a laxative drug, the main active ingredient in which is macrogol. It is prescribed for bowel cleansing before the upcoming colonoscopy.
Ingredients: macrogol, sodium and potassium chloride, sodium bicarbonate.
Pharmacological parameters: the drug has a carminative effect, is not absorbed in the body, it comes out unchanged.
Form and dosage. The drug is in powder form. Before taking it, it must be dissolved in water (1 liters of water is required for 0,5 sachet of powder). To cleanse the intestines, 3,5-4 liters of solution are needed. The entire volume of the drug should be consumed within 4-5 hours.
Contraindications: dysphagia, gastric stenosis, ulcerative colitis, intestinal obstruction.
Undesirable manifestations: disturbances in the work of the heart, nausea, vomiting, allergic reactions.
The drug is produced by an Italian pharmaceutical company. Its cost is 500-600 rubles.
Picoprep
Picoprep is a new drug that is used to cleanse the intestines. Sodium picosulfate, which is part of it, causes the walls of the organ to contract, moving the stool outward. Magnesium citrate absorbs water and softens the contents of the intestine.
Ingredients: Citric Acid, Magnesium Oxide, Sodium Picosulfate, Potassium Bicarbonate, Sodium Saccharinate Dihydrate, Orange Flavored Supplement. This supplement contains ascorbic acid, xanthine gum, dry orange extract and lactose. The drug has a powder form of release. The powder itself is white, and the solution prepared from it may have a yellowish tint and an orange smell.
pharmacological parameters. This drug belongs to the group of laxative solutions.
Form and dosage. One sachet of the drug must be dissolved in 150 ml of water. The first portion of the solution is taken before dinner, washed down with 5 glasses of water, 0,25 liters each. The next dose is taken at bedtime with 3 glasses of water.
Contraindications: dehydration, peptic ulcer of the gastrointestinal tract, diseases of the heart and blood vessels, pregnancy, colitis, intestinal obstruction, kidney disease, pregnancy, age under 9 years, lactose intolerance, rehabilitation period after surgery.
Undesirable manifestations: allergic reactions, headache, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain.
The cost of the drug is 770 rubles.
Flit Phospho-Soda
Composition: sodium hydrogen phosphate dodecahydrate, sodium dihydrogen phosphate dihydrate, sodium benzoate, glycerol, alcohol, sodium saccharin, lemon and ginger oil, water, citric acid.
pharmacological parameters. The drug belongs to laxatives, retains and accumulates water in the intestines, which causes its contractions and promotes rapid emptying.
Form and dosage:
Morning appointment. At 7 o’clock in the morning, instead of breakfast, they drink a glass of water and the first dose of the drug (45 ml of the drug is diluted in half a glass of water). This solution is washed down with another glass of water. At lunch, instead of eating, drink 3 glasses of water. Instead of dinner, take another glass of water. After dinner, take the next dose of the solution, diluted in half a glass of water. Wash down the medicine with a glass of cool water. You also need to drink liquid before midnight.
Evening appointment. At one o’clock you can eat light food. At seven o’clock they drink water. After dinner, take the first dose of the drug with a glass of water. During the evening, you need to drink 3 more glasses of liquid.
On the day of appointment. At seven in the morning they do not eat, they drink a glass of water. After breakfast, take the next dose of the drug, drinking it with another glass of water.
Contraindications: individual intolerance to the components of the drug, intestinal obstruction, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, inflammatory diseases of the digestive tract and violation of the integrity of their walls, renal failure, age under 15 years, pregnancy and lactation.
Undesirable manifestations: nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, flatulence, dizziness, headache, allergic rashes, dehydration.
The cost of the drug is 1606-2152 rubles per pack
Dufalac
Composition: water and lactulose.
Pharmacological parameters: enhances intestinal motility, accelerates metabolism. A small amount of the drug is absorbed into the blood.
Form and dosage. The drug is produced in the form of a syrup, which is packaged in bottles of 200 and 500 ml. The dose is determined by the doctor, during treatment it is necessary to observe the prescribed drinking regimen.
Contraindications: diabetes mellitus, appendicitis, lactulose intolerance.
Undesirable manifestations: flatulence, vomiting, dizziness, increased weakness.
The drug is produced in the Netherlands, its cost is 475 rubles.
Dinolak
Composition: lactulose, simethicone.
pharmacological parameters. The drug enhances intestinal motility, accelerates metabolism, neutralizes gases. It is not absorbed in the body, it is excreted unchanged.
Form and dosage. The drug is available in the form of a suspension. The doctor selects the dose individually.
Contraindications: intestinal obstruction, individual lactulose intolerance.
Undesirable manifestations: heart failure, headache, increased fatigue.
The drug is produced in Russia. The cost of the drug is 500 rubles.
Lactulose-based preparations act more slowly than macrogol preparations.
Colonoscopy will allow you to get reliable results only on the condition that a person follow all the doctor’s recommendations about bowel cleansing and dieting. Most of the time, the procedure goes without complications. However, with an increase in body temperature, with developing intestinal bleeding or vomiting, you need to seek medical help as soon as possible.