Oral Elemental Diet

Fourteen patients were prepared for colonic surgery with an oral elemental diet over a period of four to five days prior to surgery. These patients were compared to 17 similar patients conventionally prepared with antibiotics and mechanical cleansing with regard to incidence of infection. There was no enterocolitis in either group, and the incidence of wound infection was the same. Additional advantages of the oral elemental diet as a bowel preparation are discussed.