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Mechanical bowel preparation does not affect the intramucosal bacterial colony count

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International Journal of Colorectal Disease Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

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.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Health Research Council of Southeast Sweden (FORSS) for funding this project and Hans Stenlund for help with statistical calculations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery and Perioperative Sciences, University of Umeå, Umeå, Sweden

    Bärbel Jung & Erik Nilsson

  2. Department of Surgery, Visby Hospital, 62184, Visby, Sweden

    Bärbel Jung

  3. Department of Surgery, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden

    Peter Matthiessen

  4. Colorectal Unit, Department of Surgery, Central Hospital, Västerås, Västerås, Sweden

    Kenneth Smedh

  5. Department of Clinical Microbiology, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden

    Ulrika Ransjö

  6. Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, Academic Hospital, Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden

    Lars Påhlman

Authors
  1. Bärbel Jung
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  2. Peter Matthiessen
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  3. Kenneth Smedh
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  4. Erik Nilsson
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  5. Ulrika Ransjö
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  6. Lars Påhlman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bärbel Jung.

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Jung, B., Matthiessen, P., Smedh, K. et al. Mechanical bowel preparation does not affect the intramucosal bacterial colony count. Int J Colorectal Dis 25, 439–442 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00384-009-0863-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00384-009-0863-3

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