Bowel Prep vs Non-Bowel Prep for Laparoscopic Colorectal Surgery

Research Question: Are anastomotic leak and surgical site infection rates equivalent in patients having laparoscopic bowel resections without bowel preparation vs those having bowel preparation? Bowel preparation is a distressing and uncomfortable procedure for patients undergoing laparoscopic colorectal surgery, and also carries some risk of morbidity due to dehydration, electrolyte inbalance and possible infectious complications. If it is found that there is no difference between those patients who have preoperative bowel preps and those who do not have them, then we can save these patients this additional distress and risk at the time of their surgery.