Improved Bowel Care With a Polyethylene Glycol Based Bisacadyl Suppository

To test its effectiveness for bowel care in myopathy patients, a bisacodyl suppository based in polyethylene glycol (PEGBS) was compared with a conventional bisacodyl suppository based in hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVOBS). Nineteen patients with upper motor neuron paralysis received 57 HVOBS and 114 PEGBS trials in a crossover design. The average time for complete bowel evacuation was 2.4 (range 1.0 to 4.5) hours with HVOBS and 1.1 (range 0.3 to 1.8) hours with PEGBS. Three patients later discontinued the PEGBS because of cramps or fecal incontinence. The remaining 16 patients continued to use PEGBS for three years and 15 reported a sustained savings in time. It is concluded that the replacement of HVOBS with PEGBS will reduce bowel care time in myelopathy patients by about half.