Pre-endoscopy drink of small doses of simethicone and pronase solution improves visualization in upper gastrointestinal endoscopy: Randomised double-blind experiment

Background: Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (UGE) was the gold standard investigative modality for gastrointestinal diseases. High quality of visualization was essential to high-quality UGE. Our aim was to compare the effect of the small doses of simethicone plus pronase in improving visibility during UGE. Methods: Four hundred patients underwent UGE and were divided into 4 groups randomly. All patients took medicine 15 to 30 minutes before the examination. The premedication in the group D was dyclonine. The other 3 groups were administered simethicone (group S), pronase solution (group P) alone, and simethicone plus pronase solution (group P + S). The mucosal visibility score and total mucosal visibility score (TMVS) were recorded. The lower the score, the cleaner the gastric mucosa. Adverse events were also recorded. Results: We studied the UGE pictures of 400 patients. The group P + S had a significantly better TMVS than the other groups (4.91 ± 0.99 in group P + S vs 6.76 ± 1.58 in group D, P < .05; 4.91 ± 0.99 in group P + S vs 5.61 ± 0.91 in group S, P < .05; 4.91 ± 0.99 in group P + S vs 6.46 ± 0.82 in group P, P < 0. 05). However, there was no significant differences were found between group D versus group P on TMVS. Conclusion: The application of small doses of simethicone and pronase solution can create good mucosal and has no side effects.