Aquanet Bowel Cleansing Device Versus Oral Sodium Picosulfate for Pre-Endoscopy Bowel Preparation: Propensity Score Analysis for Interventional Effectiveness Evaluation

Background Colonoscopy procedures are commonly performed and have high success rates. However, poor or inadequate bowel preparation is one of the most common reasons for a repeated or failed colonoscopy. We therefore performed an observational study followed by propensity score modeling to evaluate and compare the quality of bowel preparation with the use of Aquanet bowel cleansing devices (BCDs) versus the use of oral sodium picosulfate solution. Methods We performed a prospective cross-sectional study to compare the quality of pre-endoscopic bowel preparation using a BCD with oral solution. Our major outcome of interest was the quality of bowel preparation as measured through the Boston bowel preparation (BBP) scale. Our main predictor was the method of bowel preparation. The bowel was prepared using either sodium picosulfate or the BCD. Results A total of 314 participants were part of this study. The average age of the participants was 54 years and most of the participants were females (81%). Sodium picosulfate was associated with better scores at each segment. After propensity scoring with a 1:1 match and further adjusting for the unbalanced variable (age), we found that despite the apparent superior cleansing performance of sodium picosulfate over the BCD, the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion This study reinforces previous reports regarding the quality, safety and comfort of BCDs, indicating that this technique should be considered for colonoscopy preparation. In the future, randomized controlled trials should be performed to validate these preliminary findings.