[Research progression on preoperative mechanical bowel preparation for elective colorectal surgery]

Preoperative mechanical bowel preparation (MBP) has been established as a standard procedure for elective colorectal surgery in most surgical centers since 1950s. However, the routine use of MBP for elective colorectal surgery is still in debate, as the researches on the evaluation of MBP have been carried out in recent 20 years. By searching and analyzing the existing evidence, we conclude that MBP should be routinely abandoned for elective open colorectal surgery, but should be routinely used for elective laparoscopic rectal surgery, and it still awaits large-scale RCTs for further evaluation of MBP for elective laparoscopic colonic surgery.