title: Optimizing bowel preparation for colonoscopy: a guide to enhance quality of visualization.
abstract: Colonoscopy is an important screening and therapeutic modality for colorectal cancer. Unlike other screening tests, colonoscopy is dependent on pre-procedure bowel preparation. If the bowel preparation is poor, significant pathology may be missed. Many factors are known to improve bowel preparation. This review will highlight those factors that may optimize the bowel preparation, including choice of bowel preparation, grading or scoring of the bowel preparation, special factors that influence preparation, and diet prior to colonoscopy that affects bowel preparation. The aim of the review is to offer suggestions and guide endoscopists on how to optimize the bowel preparation for the patients undergoing colonoscopy.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia (Matthew L. Bechtold, Fazia Mir), USA.
authors.forename: Matthew L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Bechtold
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia (Matthew L. Bechtold, Fazia Mir), USA.
authors.forename: Fazia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mir
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine, University of Illinois, Peoria (Srinivas R. Puli), USA.
authors.forename: Srinivas R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Puli
authors.affiliation: Departments of Medicine, University of California, Irvine (Douglas L. Nguyen), USA.
authors.forename: Douglas L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Nguyen
keywords: Colonoscopy; bowel preparation; diet; scales