Stimulant + osmotic bowel cleanser
Magnesium citrate with sodium picosulfate
Brand names: Picolax, CitraFleet
Adult dose
Dose: 1 sachet at 8am + 1 sachet 6–8h later (or per product regimen) the day before procedure
Route: PO
Frequency: course
Clinical pearls
- Common bowel prep for colonoscopy/CT colonography
Contraindications
- Bowel obstruction
- Severe IBD/toxic megacolon
- Severe heart failure
- CrCl <30 (caution)
Side effects
- Abdominal pain
- Nausea
- Hypermagnesaemia
- Electrolyte/dehydration
Interactions
- Reduces absorption of oral drugs near administration
Monitoring
- Hydration
Reference: BNF; NICE; https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drugs/magnesium-citrate-with-sodium-picosulfate/. Verify against your local formulary and the latest BNF before prescribing.
Related
Curated clinical cross-links plus same-class fallbacks.
Calculators
- Corrected Sodium (Hyperglycaemia) · Electrolytes
- Hyponatraemia Cause Algorithm · Electrolyte Disorders
- MELD-Na Score · Liver Disease
- Harvey-Bradshaw Index for Crohn's Disease · Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Mayo Score for Ulcerative Colitis Activity · Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Rome IV Criteria for Irritable Bowel Syndrome · Functional GI
Pathways
- Lower Gastrointestinal Bleed · BSG 2019; NICE NG141
- Variceal Upper GI Bleed · BSG 2015; Baveno VII (2022)
- Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis (SBP) · BSG / EASL 2018
- Hepatorenal Syndrome · EASL 2018; ICA 2015
- Hepatic Encephalopathy · EASL 2014; West Haven criteria
- Clostridioides difficile Colitis · NICE NG199 (2021); IDSA/SHEA 2021