Bowel preparation for colonoscopy using standard vs reduced doses of sodium phosphate: A single-blind randomized controlled study

Figure 1 Study protocol for the bowel preparations. Sodium phosphate (NaP) was administered at a rate of five tablets (5 g) or three tablets (3 g) every 15 min with 200 mL of water beginning five to six hours before the colonoscopy. Sodium picosulfate was taken with 200 mL of water on the night before the procedure.

Figure 2 The mean Ottawa bowel preparation scale scores. There was a trend toward a lower mean total score in the 30 g NaP plus sodium picosulfate group compared to the 50 g NaP group, but this difference was not statistically significant (Mann-Whitney’s U-test, P = 0.072).

Figure 3 The mean time required for the completion of the bowel preparation. There was a trend toward a shorter bowel preparation time in the 30 g sodium phosphate (NaP) plus sodium picosulfate group compared to the 50 g NaP group, but this difference was not statistically significant (Student’s t-test, P = 0.065).

Figure 4 The patients’ overall impressions of the bowel preparations as assessed on a four-category Likert scale. There was no significant difference between the two groups in acceptabilities (i.e., the “acceptable” plus “relatively acceptable” scores) of the preparations (Fisher’s exact test, P = 0.500).