Mechanical bowel preparation does not affect the intramucosal bacterial colony count.

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to determine if mechanical bowel preparation (MBP) influences the intramucosal bacterial colony count in the colon.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Macroscopically normal colon mucosa was collected from 37 patients (20 with and 17 without MBP) who were undergoing elective colorectal surgery at three hospitals. The biopsies were processed and cultured in the same laboratory. Colony counts of the common pathogens Escherichia coli and Bacteroides as well as of total bacteria were conducted. The study groups were comparable with regard to age, gender, antibiotics use, diagnosis and type of resection.

RESULTS

MBP did not influence the median colony count of E. coli, Bacteroides or total bacteria in our study.

CONCLUSIONS

MBP did not affect the intramucosal bacterial count in this study. Further studies are suggested to confirm these findings.