ReviewCureus2025
Safety and Efficacy of Polyethylene Glycol Versus Placebo in the Bowel Preparation for Elective Colorectal Surgeries: A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Review in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The most suitable type of preoperative colonic preparation for colorectal surgery is controversial. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) has been widely used and some regard it as more suitable for bowel cleansing. However, it also has some limitations, such as nausea and vomiting. These problems have caused surgeons to question whether bowel cleansing offers any benefit at all. This study aims to assess the safety and efficacy of PEG, compare it with other available bowel preparations, conduct a detailed analysis of the available evidence, and inform clinical practice guidelines for bowel preparation before elective colorectal surgeries. MeSH terms and keywords, including "colorectal surgeries", "polyethylene glycol", and "placebo", were used to run a literature search on PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and Clinicaltrials.gov from inception to January 2025. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing PEG with placebo for patients undergoing colorectal surgeries were included. Risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled using the Mantel-Haenszel method in RevMan (Cochrane Collaboration, London, UK). Random effects meta-analysis was undertaken. Ten RCTs with a total of 2613 patients were included. Polyethylene showed no significant benefits over placebo regarding quality of bowel preparation (RR = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.91-1.17, p = 0.64) and incidence of surgical site infections (SSIs) (RR = 1.29, 95% CI: 0.95-1.75; p = 0.11). Both groups were comparable in terms of anastomotic leak (RR = 1.14, 95% CI: 0.70-1.85, p = 0.60), intra-abdominal abscess (RR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.36-1.65, p = 0.50), ileus (RR = 1.16, 95% CI: 0.44-3.05, p = 0.76), anastomotic dehiscence (RR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.39-1.59, p = 0.51), vomiting (RR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.27-1.09, p = 0.09), and repeated operations (RR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.20-2.24, p = 0.51). PEG has no significant benefits over placebo for bowel preparation before colorectal surgeries. Further research and RCTs are necessary to identify and explore other therapeutic options for patients undergoing colorectal surgeries.
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