Introduction The benefit of mechanical bowel preparation (MBP) before open colon surgery has been debated over the last decade. The aim of this randomized controlled trial was to evaluate the effect of MBP on the outcome of patients who underwent elective laparoscopic colectomy. Methods Patients who were scheduled to undergo elective laparoscopic colon resection with primary anastomosis were randomly allocated to a preoperative MBP group (either two bottles of sodium phosphate or 2‐L polyethylene glycol) or a no‐MBP group. Anastomotic leakage and other complications such as surgical‐site infection and extra‐abdominal complications were recorded postoperatively. Results In this study, 122 patients were recruited and randomly allocated to the MBP group (n = 62) or the no‐MBP group (n = 60). Demographic and clinical characteristics were not significantly different between the two groups. The rate of abdominal complications, including anastomotic leak and surgical‐site infection, was 16.2% in the MBP group and 18.3% in the no‐MBP group (P = 0.747). Anastomotic leakage occurred in four patients (6.5%) in the MBP group and in two patients (3.3%) in no‐MBP group (P = 0.680). About 29% of patients in the MBP group still had either liquid or solid content in the bowel. No significant difference was found between the length of hospital stay in the MBP group and the no‐MBP group (9.0 ± 2.9 vs 8.4 ± 1.9 days, P = 0.180). Conclusions Elective laparoscopic colectomy without MBP is safe and offers acceptable postoperative morbidity.

Background: Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is a hereditary disorder primarily caused by germline mutations in the APC gene. The most common type of mutation in the APC gene is point mutation, while deletion mutation is much less frequent. The current study was conducted to investigate the mutation spectrum of the APC gene in Vietnamese FAP patients. Methods: Patients with the clinical diagnosis of FAP on colorectal endoscopy were screened for mutations in the APC gene using Sanger sequencing. Those who exhibited no point mutation subsequently underwent MLPA assay to detect deletion and duplication mutations. Besides, the relatives of patients with mutated APC genes were recruited for detecting carrier status. Results: Sixty-three patients with clinical colorectal polyposis were recruited. Mutations in the APC gene were detected in 26/63 patients (41.3%). Genetic analysis of 105 asymptomatic relatives of these 26 patients found mutations in the APC gene in 55 individuals (52.4%). Conclusion: We successfully established the APC gene mutation spectrum in Vietnamese FAP patients for the first time. Of importance, we discovered two novel point mutations in the APC gene. The high prevalence of carrier status in asymptomatic family members of patients with mutation emphasizes the crucial role of appropriate genetic screening for early diagnosis, surveillance, and preventive measurements.