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CompletedNCT00687570Updated Feb 20, 2015

Bowel Preparation Before Rectal Cancer Surgery

An interventional study of Fresubin Energy Drink and Laxabon® in Rectal Cancer, sponsored by Karolinska Institutet. Completed at 1 site in Sweden. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 90 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2015-02-20.

Sponsored by Karolinska Institutet · Not applicable and Interventional

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
32
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 90 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Traditionally bowel preparation before surgery of rectal cancer could be troublesome for patients especially for patients with kidney and cardio- vascular diseases, where salt and electrolyte balance can be a problem.

Cleaning the bowel without complications for the patient is one of the aims for this study.

The other aim is to see if patient nutritional status improves with nutritional drinks as a complement to food intake 4-6 weeks before surgery.

Read the detailed description

In our institution, patients undergoing surgery for cancer in the rectum are often prepared with energy drinks in order to receive a higher energy level before the operation. As a result of this the patients often avoid nausea and have a better intestinal function after surgery and less complications. We think that this treatment has worked well on the patients but no scientific studies have been done on these patients. As a complementary result of the treatment with nutritional drinks we have found that the colon is empty already after a short time of treatment.

The actual study's purpose is to find out if rectal cancer surgery can be performed without traditionally bowel preparation. Nutritional drinks are to be used instead of traditional bowel preparation. Patients are randomized into two groups, stratification for stricture, malnutrition and laparoscopic surgery and each group should either bee treated with traditional bowel preparation, Laxabon® (A) or nutritional drinks, Fresubin Energy drink (B) before surgery. Patients in subgroup B take nutritional drinks seven days before surgery instead of ordinary food. Bowel purity degree is measured peroperatively.

The secondary aim is to see if malnutrition can be improved with nutritional drinks as a complement to ordinary food intake before surgery. For four to six weeks before surgery 50 % or more of the caloric need is substituted with nutritional drinks in subgroup B (Fresubin Energy drink 15-30 kcal/kg*day). Subgroup A only eats ordinary food throughout the same period, before surgery.

Bowel purity degree, physiological functions, and body mass index are measured in all four groups before and after surgery. All patients in the study keep records of physical activity daily, and food diary twice a week. Complications are registered.

Blood samples for hormones and electrolytes are taken before and after surgery.

02

Conditions studied

  • Rectal Cancer

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Keywords

  • patients with rectal cancer undergoing surgery
  • Bowel purity degree
  • Bowel preparation
  • Rectal cancer
  • Nutritional status
  • complications with traditional bowel preparation
  • Complications
  • Physiological status
03

In context

Rectal Neoplasms

1,762 studies on the registry are indexed under Rectal Neoplasms; 518 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 32 is below the median of 65 across 1,298 interventional studies indexed under Rectal Neoplasms.

Browse Rectal Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

Karolinska Institutet is the lead sponsor of 1,113 studies on the registry; 267 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 90 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • rectal cancer
  • men
  • women
  • age 18-90 years

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • acute ileus
  • seriously dementia
  • metastatic disease
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Crossover assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
32 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Other
    B

    Nutritional drinks 7 days before surgery instead of traditional Bowel preparation with Laxabon®

    Dietary Supplement: Fresubin Energy Drink

  • Other
    A

    Traditional bowel preparation with Laxabon®

    Drug: Laxabon®

Interventions

  • Dietary supplementFresubin Energy Drink

    Fresubin energy drink 30 kcal/kg\*dag-1, seven days before surgery

  • DrugLaxabon®

    Laxabon® 4 litres starting the day before surgery

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Bowel purity degree

    Time frame: day of surgery

Secondary outcomes

  1. Nutritional status

    Time frame: before and after operation

  2. Complications

    Time frame: day of surgery and days after surgery

  3. physiological function

    Time frame: before and after surgery

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Research Department, Ersta Hospital
    Stockholm, SE116 91, Sweden
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Feb 20, 2015, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00687570
Lead sponsor
Karolinska Institutet
Responsible party
Ulf Gustafsson (PhD, MD, Karolinska Institutet) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jun 2, 2008
Start date
Jul 2008
Primary completion
Jul 2014
Completion
Jul 2014
Last update
Feb 20, 2015

Study contacts

Ulf Gustafsson, MD, PhD
principal investigator · Karolinska Institut

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Feb 2015. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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