IS TELEPHONE RE-EDUCATION PREVIOUS TO BOWEL PREPARATION A REAL ASSET?

Aims Despite all the innovations in bowel preparation methods, the quality of bowel preparation in some patients undergoing colonoscopy remains a major limitation. Recently, some studies suggest that telephone re-education(TRE)on the day before colonoscopy is associated with better quality of preparation.

Aim to compare the quality of bowel preparation based on written, oral and telephone information(TRE)versus only written and oral information.

Methods Single-center, prospective, randomized, blinded study. All patients received regular instructions during appointment(oral)and written by mail. Those scheduled for colonoscopy were randomly assigned to receive TRE two days before colonoscopy for bowel preparation or no TRE(control group).TRE was performed by an experienced nurse in endoscopy and it consisted of a phone call of about 10 min in which an explanation of the preparation with practical tips was given, and all the patients’ doubts were clarified.

Results After applying exclusion criteria, 585 patients were included, median age 61(18-86) years, 54.4% male, 47.9%(n=280) received Plenvu and 52.1%(n=305) Moviprep. Patients that received TRE were significantly older (63.0vs60.0;p=0.031). Patients on the TRE more frequently performed colonoscopy in the morning period (78.0%vs55.2%; p< 0.001).

We verified that 177(30.3%) of our population were on TRE group, 51.4% received Plenvu and 48.6% Moviprep. We found no differences in patients with or without TRE regarding adequate bowel preparation (Boston Bowel Preparation Scale ≥6, with no subscore less than 2) (81.9%vs81.2%;p=0.89) or quality of preparation by segment (p>0.05). When we compared the presence of adequate bowel preparation in both groups in the morning (78.3%vs71.7%;p=0.169) and in afternoon(94.9%vs93.4%;p=0.727), no statistical significant differences were observed.

Conclusions In our study, we found no influence of telephone re-education (TRE) in the quality of bowel preparation. Therefore, good clarification during appointments and well-written information such as in our center to reinforce the importance of bowel preparation for the success of the colonoscopy seem sufficient for a good preparation.