Clinical trials

Colonoscopy is a test that lets doctors look inside the large bowel to find and remove growths called polyps, which can develop into bowel cancer. Before the test, people take a bowel preparation to empty the bowel. Even so, the right side of the bowel is often not clean enough, and polyps there can be missed. This study is testing whether giving an enema (a small amount of fluid passed into the bowel) during the colonoscopy makes the right side of the bowel cleaner. Participants having a routine colonoscopy at Westmead Hospital or Auburn Hospital will be assigned by chance to either receive the enema during the procedure or to have their colonoscopy in the usual way. Neither group takes any extra preparation at home. The researchers will compare how clean the right side of the bowel is in each group, using a standard scoring system, and will also look at how many polyps are found. The aim is to find out whether this simple step improves the quality of colonoscopy.

Post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP) is the most common serious adverse event after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), occurring in roughly 7-15% of patients. Rectal non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and peri-procedural aggressive intravenous hydration each reduce PEP, but published hydration regimens are delivered over 8-24 hours and require an overnight hospital stay, which is impractical where ERCP is increasingly performed as a same-day procedure. This multicentre, prospective, randomised controlled trial tests whether a short (under 4 hours) aggressive hydration regimen with Lactated Ringer's solution, combined with rectal indomethacin, is superior to standard care (rectal indomethacin plus low-volume hydration) for preventing PEP, while supporting same-day discharge. Adults undergoing ERCP are randomised 1:1. The primary outcome is the incidence of PEP defined by consensus (Cotton) criteria. A total of 1300 participants (650 per arm) will be enrolled.