Hydrogen breath test as an indicator of the quality of colonic preparation for colonoscopy.
BACKGROUND
Breath hydrogen levels after ingestion of polyethylene glycol were evaluated as a method of predicting the quality of colonic preparation.


METHODS
One hundred patients undergoing nonemergency colonoscopy were recruited for this study. After fasting overnight, they were instructed to ingest a polyethylene glycol solution containing 12 g lactulose at a rate of 50 mL every 5 minutes for 2 hours. During ingestion of the polyethylene glycol solution, breath samples were taken at 15-minute intervals for 240 minutes and breath hydrogen concentration was measured.


RESULTS
The preparation for colonoscopy was judged to be poor in 18% and adequate in 82%. The breath hydrogen levels over 90 minutes were significantly higher in the poor group than in the adequate group. In all patients with a breath hydrogen level less than 10 parts per million at 240 minutes, the preparation was adequate. Conversely, all patients with a poor preparation had a breath hydrogen level of more than 10 ppm at 240 minutes.


CONCLUSIONS
The hydrogen breath test effectively predicts adequacy of colonic preparation.
Urita
Yoshihisa
Y
First Department of Internal Medicine, Toho University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Hike
Kazuo
K
Torii
Naotaka
N
Kikuchi
Yoshinori
Y
Kanda
Eiko
E
Sasajima
Masahiko
M
Ariki
Hisashi
H
Miki
Kazumasa
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001944:Breath Tests / Q000379:methods*; D002400:Cathartics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003108:Colonic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003113:Colonoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005772:Gastrointestinal Transit; D006801:Humans; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011336:Probability; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011786:Quality Control; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D007507:Therapeutic Irrigation / Q000379:methods*
D002400:Cathartics; D006859:Hydrogen