Pre-endoscopy drink of small doses of simethicone and pronase solution improves visualization in upper...

Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (UGE) was the gold standard investigative modality for gastrointestinal diseases. High quality of visualization was essential to high-quality UGE. Our aim was to compare the effect of the small doses of simethicone plus pronase in improving visibility during UGE.

Four hundred patients underwent UGE and were divided into 4 groups randomly. All patients took medicine 15 to 30 minutes before the examination. The premedication in the group D was dyclonine. The other 3 groups were administered simethicone (group S), pronase solution (group P) alone, and simethicone plus pronase solution (group P + S). The mucosal visibility score and total mucosal visibility score (TMVS) were recorded. The lower the score, the cleaner the gastric mucosa. Adverse events were also recorded.

We studied the UGE pictures of 400 patients. The group P + S had a significantly better TMVS than the other groups (4.91 ± 0.99 in group P + S vs 6.76 ± 1.58 in group D, P < .05; 4.91 ± 0.99 in group P + S vs 5.61 ± 0.91 in group S, P < .05; 4.91 ± 0.99 in group P + S vs 6.46 ± 0.82 in group P, P < 0. 05). However, there was no significant differences were found between group D versus group P on TMVS.

The application of small doses of simethicone and pronase solution can create good mucosal and has no side effects.