Effect of Walking Exercise and Intestinal Cleansing Interval on Bowel Preparation Quality, a Single-Blind, Randomized Controlled Trial

Background and Aims High-quality intestinal preparation could promote intestinal cleanliness and lead to more accurate diagnosis, which patients will benefit from. This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of walking exercise and intestinal cleansing interval in bowel preparation before colonoscopy. Methods A randomized controlled single blind study was conducted during August 2021 to February 2022. Patients requiring colonoscopy were randomly divided into three groups: 0 step, 5000 steps or 10,000 steps during the intestinal preparation. Participants took the same intestinal cleansing drugs 4-6 h prior to the procedure: 2L-dose polyethylene glycol (PEG). Results A total of 300 patients were enrolled in the experiment (100 patients per group), and the baseline information of the three groups was close. The BBPS of right (0-step group vs 5,000-step group vs 10,000-step group: 1.78 +/- 0.65 vs 1.88 +/- 0.54 vs 2.36 +/- 0.69, p < 0.001), transverse (0-step group vs 5,000-step group vs 10,000-step group: 2.09 +/- 0.78 vs 2.18 +/- 0.61 vs 2.59 +/- 0.71, p < 0.001) and left (0-step group vs 5,000-step group vs 10,000-step group: 2.01 +/- 0.91 vs 2.24 +/- 0.59 vs 2.51 +/- 0.60, p < 0.001) colon in 10,000-step group were significantly higher than others, respectively. And we also drew the same conclusion in the aspect of ADR. The adverse events and patients' satisfaction had no differences between the two groups. Moreover, intestinal cleansing interval (< 5.12 h) was only effective in BBPS of right colon (p < 0.001) and left colon (p = 0.039). Conclusions This study suggested that participants took 10,000-step walking exercise and took PEG 5.12 h prior to the procedure were effective in routine pre-procedure cleanout for standard colonoscopy. Name of Registry Effect of starting time of bowel cleansing and walking exercise after bowel cleansing on bowel preparation: A prospective randomized controlled study. Registration Number ChiCTR2100049214.

Automated summary

This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of walking exercise and intestinal cleansing interval in bowel preparation before colonoscopy. The results showed that taking 10,000 steps of walking exercise during the intestinal preparation and taking polyethylene glycol (PEG) 5.12 hours prior to the procedure were effective in cleaning the colon and improving the accuracy of colonoscopy.