Colonic lavage prior to barium enema—a comparison of two techniques

A clean colon is a prerequisite to a successful double contrast barium enema. Two different techniques of colonic lavage have been in use in this hospital for some years, one employing the Henderson colonic lavage machine (MacCarthy's Surgical Division) and the other, a simpler method, which we deem “the shortened preparation”. As the latter technique is more acceptable to the patient, simpler to perform and requires no specialized equipment, we thought a comparison of the results of both techniques would be of interest. The films of the double contrast enemas of 40 outpatients were examined retrospectively. All had been examined using the St. Mark's modification of the Malmo double contrast barium enema (Young, 1964), but taking only double contrast films on six of which the rectum is included. The examinations were selected by one of us (S.F.). Twenty patients from each group, matched for sex and age, were chosen. Preparation before attending the department was similar in both groups, namely three Senokot (SDX) tablets at 21.00 hours two nights before and 1 oz. (28.35 g) of castor oil at 14.00 hours on the day prior to the examination. Apart from an early morning drink, no food was allowed on the day of attendance. 1 mg of Atropine was given orally, unless medically contra-indicated, when the patient arrived in the department.