A Within Subjects Comparison of Two Antegrade Flushing Regimens in Children

Fecal soiling was defined as non-toilet elimination, which was tracked and documented by the parent/child as direct event recording and tallied as the number of pairs of underwear/protective undergarments soiled with stool per day. The purpose of this outcome measure was to document the number of individuals who gained continence on NS and USP glycerin. Descriptive statistics was limited to percentage of total participants who achieved continence on each flushing regimen. Data was calculated on the last data point in the final phase for both the NS and USP glycerin flush.

Fecal soiling was defined as non-toilet elimination, which was tracked and documented by the parent/child as direct event recording and tallied as the number of pairs of underwear/protective undergarments soiled with stool per day. Descriptive statistics included mean and standard deviation. Inferential statistical analysis was accomplished using a two-tailed, two-sample pooled variance t test with a significance level set at 0.05, calculated on the data from the last day of the completed NS and USP Glycerin phases of the study. Power analysis conducted using data from this study with α = 0.5, power of .80, correlation between two means of .598, and effect size of 1.554 estimated a sample size of 11 would be needed to minimize the risk of a Type II error to (20%).

Flush administration frequency necessary to achieve continence was recorded as a single measure per subject per flush solution obtained as the number of flushes in the last three days of each dosing phase and recorded as either daily (1), every other day (2), or every third day (3). The larger the value, the less frequent the flush, the better the clinical outcome. Dosing frequency was measured using direct observational recording completed by the parent or child. Descriptive analysis included mean, and standard deviation. Inferential statistical analysis was accomplished using a two-tailed, two-sample pooled variance t test with a significance level set at 0.05. Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated on the data from the last day of the completed NS and USP Glycerin phases of the study.

Flush volume was measured in mL/flush using a graduated cylinder and recorded by the parent or child with each flush and later calculated in mL/kg. Data derived from the last flush of the completed dosing phase of both NS and USP Glycerin were used to calculate flush volume. Descriptive analysis included mean, median, range, and standard deviation. Reported data excludes subjects who failed to gain and maintain continence on either flushing regimen.

Evaluated impact of NS and USP Glycerin antegrade flush on serum electrolytes using a blood test called a Basic Metabolic Panel. Data analysis limited to percentage of subjects demonstrating any electrolyte abnormality on NS or USP glycerin.

Stool calprotectin was used to evaluate the impact of NS and USP Glycerin antegrade flush on colonic health. Calprotectin levels were obtained at baseline and following completion of the NS and USP Glycerin dosing phase of the study. Descriptive data analysis included mean and standard deviation for each flush regimen. Inferential statistical analysis was accomplished using a two-tailed, two-sample pooled variance t test with a significance level set at 0.05. Both descriptive and inferential data analysis was calculated on the difference in calprotectin levels between samples obtained at baseline and samples obtained following the completion of the NS and USP Glycerin flush (value at completion of dosing phase - baseline value). The assumption was the length of each dosing phase was sufficient to achieve a credible active washout period and therefore levels obtained at the end of a phase reflected flushing regimen effects colonic health regardless of flush order.

Cramping with flush was measured using the Wong Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale (WBFPRS). The WBFPRS has undergone extensive testing and has well established psychometrics in the pediatric population. The scale ranges from 0 (very happy without pain) to 10 (the worse pain imaginable). Each pain level is associated with a facial expression. The child is asked to choose the face that best describes his/her level of discomfort (ordinal data). The parent was instructed to call if the child had flushing regimen-associated discomfort greater than a 4 on the WBFPRS. Documentation of pain severity was completed by the parent and child on a data-collection form at the time of occurrence. Descriptive statistics including mean and standard deviation. Inferential statistical analysis was accomplished using a two-tailed, two-sample pooled variance t test with a significance level set at 0.05. Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated on the last data point in the dosing phase.

Vagal symptoms including nausea, vomiting, sweating, dizziness, and pallor were noted by the parent. The parent was instructed to call if the child had any vagal symptoms. Documentation of any vagal symptoms was completed by the parent and child on a data-collection form at the time of occurrence. Data was analyzed as a percentage of subjects experiencing vagal symptoms during flush with NS and USP glycerin.