Utilization of Probiotics in Relieving Post-Colonoscopy Gastrointestinal Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Introduction: Colonoscopy is regarded as a safe diagnostic and therapeutic procedure, nevertheless, some patients may still encounter post-colonoscopy gastrointestinal symptoms. This study aimed to evaluate the utilization of probiotics before and after colonoscopy to relieve those symptoms.

Methodology: This study was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) 2020 guidelines. Included studies were all interventional studies examining the effects of probiotics use before and after colonoscopy. Articles were retrieved from MEDLINE, EBSCO-Host, Cochrane, ProQuest, and Google Scholar electronic databases, utilized specific keywords ( " Probiotic " OR " Probiotics ") AND (" Colonoscopy " OR " Colonoscopies "). The Cochrane Risk of Bias (RoB) 2 and Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal tools were used for study quality assessment, as well as Review Manager (RevMan) 5.4 to perform the meta-analysis.

Results: A total of ten studies were included in this systematic review. Six studies assessed the effect of probiotics consumption after colonoscopy, three examined the impact before colonoscopy, and one study assessed both. The most common type of probiotics used were Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. Quantitative synthesis of probiotics before colonoscopy showed no significant differences among bloating, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting symptoms (p=0.49, p=0.14, p=0.30, and p=0.42, respectively). Similarly, quantitative synthesis of probiotics after colonoscopy showed no significant differences in bloating and abdominal pain (p=0.16 and p=0.63, respectively).

Conclusions: Probiotic administration pre- and post-colonoscopy exhibited preliminary evidence for reducing gastrointestinal symptoms, but a quantitative synthesis revealed non-significant findings, necessitating further investigations.