Whole-gut irrigation as a preparation for colorectal surgery.

Whole-gut irrigation was used to prepare 43 patients for colorectal surgery. Antibiotics were used pre-operatively in the first group and added to the irrigation fluid in the second. The condition of the bowel lumen was regarded as perfect or good in 87,2% of cases, and the total sepsis rate was 15,4%. The results are regarded as a significant improvement on conventional methods of bowel preparation.