The conclusion drawn is that it is not wise to purge shortly before an operation in which the bowel must stand the insults of drying, handling, cutting and sewing.The weight of theoretical, experimental and clinical evidence is therefore in favor of the abolishment of purgation as a routine preoperative procedure.
CONCLUSIONSPreoperative catharsis has little to recommend it. The disadvantages are : physical and psychic weak¬ ness ; loss of sleep ; loss of body and intestinal fluids ; hypotonicity of the intestinal wall ; the change in the bacterial flora of the intestine, and the irritability of the rectum and lower colon.The patient not subjected to preoperative catharsis is not as prone to suffer from thirst, nausea and vom¬ iting, abdominal distention and gas pains.Note.-Since this paper was submitted for publication, a further paper by Alvarez3 has appeared.
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