You are going to have a colonoscopy. This leaflet explains how you should prepare for this examination involving the use of PLEINVUE®.
Preparation
You can collect the laxative using the prescription you have been given from your own pharmacy.
Three days prior to the examination
Three days before the examination, stop eating food containing pips/seeds that could block the colonoscope. This leaflet will tell you what you can and cannot eat.
What you can and cannot eat:
- Wholegrain products: bread containing seeds and wholemeal bread, wholemeal pasta and multi-grain pasta and brown rice.
- Fibrous vegetables such as asparagus, celery, sauerkraut, runner beans, green beans, leeks, peas, pulses, bean sprouts, sweetcorn, mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic, spinach, endive, peppers and raw vegetables.
- Certain fruit, including oranges, grapefruit, mandarins, kiwi fruit, blackberries, grapes, strawberries and dried fruit.
- Nuts, peanuts and seeds/muesli.
What you can eat
- Rusks, white or light-brown bread with margarine or butter. Pancakes or poffertjes [mini pancakes] (but not wholemeal or multigrain). Lean meat (e.g. ham on the bone, roast beef, chicken fillet).
- Cheese, boiled egg, sprinkles, chocolate spread, honey, syrup and seedless jam.
- Soft, ripe fruit of fruit preserves with no seeds, fibre or peel in them. Apple sauce, fruit puree and bananas. Soup containing small pieces of meat, vermicelli and/or small meatballs (but no vegetables).
- Potatoes, white rice, pasta and macaroni.
- Lightly cooked lean meat (e.g. steak, beef tartare, pork steak or pork tenderloin), fish or chicken (skinless).
- Cooked vegetables: cauliflower, broccoli florets and carrots. Custard, pudding, quark or yoghurt.
One day before the examination
From today, you may not consume any carbonated liquids, milk products, red fruit juices, red lemonade, cloudy fruit juices containing pulp and alcohol, and should drink clear liquids only!
Clear liquids are allowed: flavoured or unflavoured water, clear fruit juices (with no pulp in them), clear tea or iced tea, black coffee, clear, strained broth (made using a stock cube, for example) and lemonade.
- Start the day with a light breakfast (two rusks or one sandwich). You may eat it with a cup of tea. Thereafter, you may drink as normal, whenever you are thirsty.
- You may have your last light meal (two rusks or one sandwich) between 12.00 and 13.00. You may have clear liquids with it.
- You will also begin the process of emptying your bowels with PLEINVUE one day before the procedure.
Cleaning bowels using PLEINVUE®
PLEINVUE is a drink that ensures that your bowels are completely clean.
You must drink a 500-ml dose in two rounds - one dose the day before the procedure and one on the day of the procedure. You will receive a single pack of PLEINVUE containing three sachets. Dose 1 is a single large sachet. Dose consists of two sachets. Both doses have a 24-hour shelf life if kept refrigerated.
Instructions - the day before the examination:
- Empty the contents of the sachet containing dose 1 into 500 ml of water.
- Start with a small cup of warm, clear tea before you take the first does of Pleinvue.
- Between 18.00 and 19.30, drink the 1st dose of Pleinvue calmly, taking small sips, alternating with at least one litre of water or another clear liquid.
- After 19.30, you may drink as much clear liquid as you like, until it’s time for the next dose of PLEINVUE. The more you drink, the cleaner the bowel will be.
Instructions - the day of the examination:
- Empty the contents of the sachet containing dose 2 (two sachets) into 500 ml of water. Stir well, until the powder is completely dissolved. This can take as long as eight minutes.
- Drink the solution, following the instructions below
What to do if your examination is scheduled for before 12.00
- Between 05.00 and 06.30, drink the 2nd dose of Pleinvue calmly, taking small sips, alternating with at least one litre of water or another clear liquid.
- You must not drink anything as from two hours before the procedure.
What to do if your procedure is scheduled for after 12.00
- Between 08.00 and 10.00, drink the 2nd dose of Pleinvue calmly, taking small sips, alternating with at least one litre of water or another clear liquid.
- You must not drink anything as from two hours before the procedure.
Tips on using PLEINVUE
You might not enjoy drinking PLEINVUE, for example, because of the unpleasant taste. We have provided a few tips below.
- Drink PLEINVUE slowly and in small sips. This will reduce the likelihood of your feeling nauseous. Drink PLEINVUE cold for a better taste.
- You might like to drink PLEINVUE through a straw so that liquid reaches a little further into the mouth.
- You could also use a water bottle with a closable drinking nozzle to avoid ingesting the liquid too quickly
- Alternate drinking the PLEINVUE with small sips of another clear liquid, e.g. tea, iced tea or water.
- Drink a cup of tea before starting the PLEINVUE. This can make taking the PLEINVUE less unpleasant.
- You can use sorbitol-free chewing gum to make the taste go away in the meantime.
When is the preparation stage complete?
Since you will lose a significant amount of fluid because of the diarrhoea, it is important that you drink at least an extra two litres of clear liquids in addition to the PLEINVUE. The preparation stage is complete when, after drinking the litre of PLEINVUE and the clear liquids, you see only some clear, sometimes pale yellow liquid in the toilet (figure 1). The preparation may cause you to experience headaches and nausea. You may also feel cold.
Figure 1: The preparation stage is complete when your stools are yellow and clear.
What to do in the event of problems
Please contact the hospital if you experience any of the following symptoms
- Vomiting; telephone for advice.
- Your stools are not clear or you have not passed any after taking the PLEINVUE.
- If the above tips have not helped, please telephone us at 08.30 on the day of your procedure.
Please also telephone the Endoscopy Department for advice if you have not succeeded in completing the preparation stage. The number to ring outside office hours is +31 (0) 88 624 50 00.
Contact
If you have any questions, please telephone the Endoscopy Department of the Gastroenterology Outpatients’ Clinic.
Endoscopy
+31 (0) 88 624 33 20 (available from Monday to Friday from 08.30 to 10.30)
Deze folder is ook in het Nederlands: Voorbereiding darmonderzoek met PLEINVUE®