Intestine Preparation Before Any Surgery

Overview

Intestinal preparation before any surgery is a very crucial part of preoperative preparation as it can cause many consequences if it is not managed properly. Most commonly, the patient will be put on "NPO after midnight” which is known as nil per oral past midnight. The reason for the patient put on NPO is that it will reduce the volume and the acidity of the stomach contents during surgery. This is because aspiration may occur in patient during the surgery. However, there is no concrete evidence showing the difference in volume or pH of gastric varies according to the length and type of fasting. In some surgeries, as part of preoperative mechanical bowel preparation, antibiotics such as erythromycin, metronidazole or neomycin will be prescribed. On the other hand, in some hospital settings, for preoperative mechanical bowel preparation, a fleet enema will be given a day before any operative procedure or surgery is done.