PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - P Culbert AU - H Gillett AU - A Ferguson TI - Highly effective new oral therapy for faecal impaction. DP - 1998 Sep 01 TA - British Journal of General Practice PG - 1599--1600 VI - 48 IP - 434 4099 - http://bjgp.org/content/48/434/1599.short 4100 - http://bjgp.org/content/48/434/1599.full SO - Br J Gen Pract1998 Sep 01; 48 AB - We reasoned that relief of faecal impaction could be achieved if a bolus of polyethylene glycol/electrolyte solution was delivered to the caecum over a few hours. Thus, 16 patients with faecal impaction (duration of constipation 5-23 days) were treated in an open study with up to three daily treatments of one litre of polyethylene glycol/electrolyte solution daily, taken orally over 4-6 hours. Complete resolution of impaction, strictly defined, was obtained in 13 patients, and significant improvement in the other three. Only one patient was faecally incontinent and the only side-effect was an increase in borborygmi. Polyethylene glycol/electrolyte solution, given as a treatment dose of one litre daily for up to three days, is a highly effective and acceptable oral therapy for faecal impaction.