COMPARISON OF POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL AND LACTULOSE IN MANAGEMENT OF FUNCTIONAL CONSTIPATION: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Abstract

Objectives: To compare the Lactulose and Polyethylene Glycol in relieving the functional constipation symptoms in terms of improvement in defecation frequency per week in our study cases. Study Design:  Randomized clinical trial. Place & Duration of Study: Department of Pediatric Surgery University of Child Health Sciences Children Hospital Lahore ( UCHS-CHL ) from July 2024 to December 2024. Materials & Methods: Total ninety (90) patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria of the study were randomized into two (2) groups forty-five (45) each. Group A patients received PEG (0.8g/kg/day) therapy for 8 weeks and Group B patients received Lactulose (2g/kg/day) therapy for 8 weeks. Both groups were compared in terms of improvement in defecation frequency at the end of 8 weeks of therapy. Successful outcomes were considered in patients passing stool 3 or more than 3 times / week at the end of study.Data were analysed using SPSS version 26. Results: Both the study groups were comparable with respect to gender & weight distribution. In PEG group male to female ratio was 3.5:1 while it is 2:1 in Lactulose group with P value >0.05. Mean weight in PEG group was 15.4 kg and in Lactulose group it was 12.8 kg with P value > 0.05. Mean defecation frequency / week at pesentation is 1.4 in PEG group and 1.3 in Lactulose group with P value >0.05. Mean defecation frequency / week at the end of study in PEG group was 8.6+- 2.7 while in Lactulose group it is 5.8 +- 3.0 with P value <0.05. Successful outcomes were recorded to be 93.3 % in PEG group while it is 80 % in Lactulose group with P value > 0.05. Conclusion: Study found that both PEG & Lactulose are effective in treatment of functional constipation in pediatric age group but the results of PEG are better compared to Lactulose though it is not statistically significant in our study.