A comparison of the safety and efficacy of polyethylene glycol 4000 and lactulose for the treatment of constipation in pregnant women: a randomized controlled clinical study

BACKGROUND Constipation is a common gastrointestinal complication during pregnancy. The prevalence of constipation is higher in pregnant women compared to the general population owing to the physiological changes that occur throughout pregnancy. Lactulose and polyethylene glycol belong to a class of medications known as osmotic laxatives. The purpose of this study is to compare the safety and efficacy of polyethylene glycol and lactulose in pregnant women with constipation. METHODS In this study, we selected 113 pregnant women with constipation who attended the Department of Gastroenterology, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University from May 1, 2017 to April 30, 2020. The included patients were randomly divided into two groups. The observation group used polyethylene glycol 4000 (manufactured by Beau four Ipsen Industry, France, National Medicine Standard: H20130145), 10 g, twice daily. The control group used lactulose (manufactured by Abbott Biologicals BV, Netherlands, National Medicine Standard: H20120387) 15 mL, twice daily. Both groups were given a 3-week course of treatment, and were observed for any adverse drug reactions. The clinical effects were compared every week during the 3-week treatment. RESULTS Treatment was found to be effective in both the observation and control groups, as measured by a significant difference in the Wexner constipation scores of patients before and after treatment (P 0.05), analysis of the Wexner scores at the first and second week of treatment indicated that polyethylene glycol had a faster therapeutic effect than lactulose (P=0.06, P=0.029). CONCLUSIONS Compared with lactulose, Polyethylene glycol 4000 can significantly shorten the treatment course for constipation during pregnancy.