Bowel cleansing as influencing factor of gut microbiota: the state of the art

Abstract

Colonoscopy is an endoscopic examination widely-used to evaluate the colon health of adult patients. Before performing colonoscopy, patients are subjected to a bowel lavage to clean the intestinal tract from fecal content. However, the bowel cleansing has been observed to have a deep impact on the gut microbiota composition, leading to a temporary dysbiosis that may have some negative consequences on the host’s health. Although this clinical procedure seems causing many potential long-term changes in the gut microbiota composition, to date conflicting data about the specific consequences of bowel lavage on the intestinal microflora and on the host’s health exist.