Although there is emerging evidence in the medical literature that a bowel prep is not needed and in fact may be harmful, most surgeons still ask patients to undergo a bowel prep before having colon surgery. One common cathartic used is Fleets Phospha Soda. It is desirable because it is available over the counter, is inexpensive, consists of just a few ounces, generally does not cause much nausea, and provides a thorough cleansing.<\/p>\n
However, it is very high in sodium and phosphorus and can cause severe dehydration. It can also cause a rapid rise in the blood levels of phosphorus. For this reason, most surgeons recommend that immediately after taking it a patient should drink three large glasses of water and remain well hydrated during the duration of the prep. In addition, some surgeons do not use this prep in older patients or patients with borderline kidney function because of the dehydration and high phosphorus risk may cause kidney failure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Although there is emerging evidence in the medical literature that a bowel prep is not needed and in fact may be harmful, most surgeons still ask patients to undergo a bowel prep before having colon surgery. One common cathartic used is Fleets Phospha Soda. It is desirable because it is available over the counter, is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[181,184,179,180,183,182],"yoast_head":"\n