Abstract: Objective: To study the safety of no bowel preparation before esophagectomy and its effect on the recovery of patients. Methods: A multicenter randomized controlled study was conducted from June to October 2021. A total of 236 patients from three tertiary Grade A hospitals were randomly divided into experimental group (117 cases) and control group (119 case). Those in the experimental group did not get bowel preparation before operation, and only with preoperative fasting and water deprivation. Those in the control group were orally prepared with compound polyethylene glycol electrolyte powder one day before operation. The incidence of anastomotic leakage and comprehensive complication index within 14 days after operation, perioperative infection, electrolyte balance, as well as postoperative recover indicators were compared. Results: Anastomotic leakage occurred in 6 cases (5.1%) in the experimental group and 9 cases (7.6%) in the control group, and the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The comprehensive complication index was 5.47±9.73 in the experimental group and 7.67±12.17 in the control group, and the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The time of eating, the time of getting out of bed and the length of postoperative hospitalization of those in the experimental group were better than those of the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: No bowel preparation before esophagectomy is safe for patients with esophageal cancer, and it can accelerate the postoperative recovery of patients.

Key words: esophageal neoplasms; bowel preparation; Enhanced Recovery After Surgery; Randomized Controlled Trial