A NORMOCALORIC, LOW-FIBER DIET FOR COLONOSCOPY PREPARATION IS MORE ACCEPTABLE AND NON-INFERIOR TO A LIQUID, LOW-CALORIE DIET: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL.

•This is the first study in Brazil about diets to prepare for colonoscopy. •The normocaloric diet was not inferior to the liquid diet regarding the quality of the colonoscopy preparation. •Both diets were well tolerated, but the normocaloric diet was more accepted than the liquid diet. Background - Several publications have shown greater acceptance of less restrictive diets for colonoscopy preparation, without impairing the quality of the preparation, when compared to the clear liquid diet. Objective - To evaluate the quality, tolerance and preference regarding the colonoscopy preparation of a low-fiber, normocaloric diet compared with a hypocaloric liquid diet. Methods - This is a randomized, controlled, observer-blind study to compare two low-fiber colonoscopy preparation diets (hypocaloric liquid diet vs. normocaloric diet). The Boston Bowel Preparation Scale was used to evaluate the qua-lity of the preparations, being considered adequate BBPS ≥6 in the global assessment and ≥2 in each segment. The same laxative was used in both groups as well as the "split-dose" regimen. Results - A total of 136 individuals were enrolled in each group. Adequate preparation was achieved in 90.4% of the individuals allocated to the liquid diet group and 92.6% to the normocaloric group. There was no significant difference in the quality of preparation and tolerance between groups. A higher patient acceptance to repeat the procedure if necessary was observed in the normocaloric diet group compared with the liquid diet group (P=0.005). Conclusion - The normocaloric diet has shown to be not inferior to the liquid diet regarding the quality of the colonoscopy preparation. Patient tolerance rates were similar between both diets, but a higher accep-tance rate was observed with the normocaloric diet as compared with the liquid diet.