Shorter time between bowel prep completion and colonoscopy initiation is associated with improved bowel prep adequacy, but not necessarily adenoma detection rates, according to results of a meta-analysis.
In the pooled analysis, shorter intervals between bowel prep and colonoscopy were associated with adequate preparation 94% of the time (95% CI, 91%-97%), which was significantly greater than the adequacy rate seen with longer intervals (84%; 95% CI, 79%-89%) (Turk J Gastroenterol 2023; 34[1]: 26-34).
The meta-analysis included data from 20 studies that reported results with regard to the time interval between bowel prep completion and colonoscopy. Ten of the studies were randomized controlled trials, six were non-randomized prospective studies and four were retrospective studies. In total, 10,341 participants were included in the 20 studies.
Although there was variability in what individual studies defined as a short versus a long interval, when analyzing specific time intervals, there was a time-dependent trend. Adequacy rates were highest for intervals of less than five hours (94%; 95% CI, 92%-97%), closely followed by rates for intervals of six to 11 hours (92%; 95% CI, 86%-96%), with the lowest rates for intervals of 11 to 20 hours (85%; 95% CI, 77%-91%) and more than 20 hours (85%; 95% CI, 76%-92%).