Although both laxatives are dispensed without a prescription, you should not drink them without a doctor’s prescription, only a specialist should decide which medication is better, since each of them has its own characteristics.
Before colonoscopy, the intestines need to be clean. For this purpose, osmotic laxatives Endofalk and Fortrans are used.
These drugs are not cheap and many want to figure out which one is better and more effective.
Endofalk
The drug is available in powder from which a solution for oral administration is prepared.
As the main components, Endofalk contains:
- Macrogol 3350.
- Potassium and sodium chloride.
- Bicarbonate of soda.
In addition to them, the composition of the powder includes the following inactive ingredients:
- Aerosil.
- Fragrance fruit and orange.
- E954.
The drug is available in the form of a white crystalline powder, which has a fruity-orange aroma.
Endofalk is designed to cleanse the intestines. After oral administration, diarrhea begins. The composition of the drug is selected in such a way that the use of the medication has almost no effect on the water-salt balance of the body.
Macrogol 3350 is an inert substance, which is slightly absorbed in the digestive tract. In the body, it does not undergo biotransformation. Less than 1% of the accepted dosage is excreted in urine, the rest is through the intestines.
Fortrans
Fortrans is made in powder, which is diluted with water to obtain a solution for oral administration. The therapeutic effect of it is explained by macrogol 4000.
In addition to it, the composition of the drug includes indifferent components:
- E954.
- E508.
- Sodium chloride.
- E5154.
- Bicarbonate of soda.
Macrogol 4000 is a long polymer in which there are many hydrogen bonds, thanks to them it is able to retain water. After entering the body, it increases the volume of fluid in the intestines, which causes diarrhea.
The electrolytes included in the medication help to normalize the water-salt balance, which is disturbed due to loose stools.
Macrogol 4000 is not absorbed in the digestive tract and is excreted unchanged from the body.
What are the drugs like?
Endofalk and Fortrans have the following similarities:
- Laxatives are used to prepare the intestines for colonoscopy.
- The drugs are intended for adults only.
- Medications can be used by women in position and supporting breastfeeding.
- During their reception, you should refrain from driving and working with mechanisms that require a fast reaction rate.
- Patients with allergies to their composition, with intestinal obstruction, gastrointestinal obstruction, rupture of the walls of the digestive tract and suspicion of it, toxic colitis and megacolon, dehydration and severe heart failure cannot drink laxatives.
- Due to diarrhea while taking drugs, the absorption of other medicines may be impaired, so the doctor needs to be informed about all the medications taken.
- Both laxatives can cause allergies, nausea, vomiting, bloating, and abdominal pain.
Comparison and how do they differ
Endofalk and Fortrans have the following differences:
| Endofalk | Fortrans | |
| Producing country | Germany. | France. |
| Indications | Fortrans can be used not only to prepare the intestines for colonoscopy, but also to clean it before surgery and x-ray examination. | |
| Adverse reactions | Due to taking the medication, disorientation, convulsions, heart rhythm disturbance, palpitations, pulmonary edema, a feeling of fullness of the stomach, irritation in the anus, gastric colic, weakness, insomnia, and a decrease in the level of potassium, calcium and sodium can be observed. | |
| Contraindications | Endofalk should not be drunk if the patient has dysphagia, loss of consciousness, liver and kidney dysfunction, general weakness.
With caution, it should be prescribed to elderly patients, with reflux esophagitis, heart rhythm disturbance, SSSU, sinoatrial blockade, colitis. |
Fortrans is forbidden for ulcers, large malignant neoplasms and other pathologies of the large intestine, in which there is an extensive lesion of the mucous membrane.
With caution, the drug should be drunk with kidney pathology, mild to moderate heart failure, a tendency to disturb the water-salt balance, treatment with diuretics, neurological disorders, gait disorder, and a tendency to aspiration for bed patients. With caution, it should be prescribed to patients who are in an unconscious state. |
| Storage conditions | The drug can be stored in a damp, dark place at a temperature of no higher than 25 degrees. | The powder does not lose its properties at temperatures up to 30 degrees. |
| Shelf life | The medication can be stored for 5 years, but the diluted solution is suitable for no more than 3 hours at temperatures up to 25 degrees and no more than 2 days at temperatures up to 5 degrees. | The powder is suitable for 36 months. |
| Overdose | If the recommended doses are exceeded, severe indigestion may develop. With a strong overdose, a violation of the water-salt and acid-base balance is possible. In this case, the drug must be discontinued, the patient is prescribed medications that replenish the volume of the liquid and normalize the water-salt and acid-base balance.
Aspiration can cause toxic pulmonary edema. In this case, emergency intensive care should be prescribed, which should include breathing under positive pressure. |
When taking Fortrans in dosages above therapeutic, nausea, vomiting, loose stools, and a violation of the water-salt balance may occur.
In case of an overdose, the antidote is unknown, therefore symptomatic treatment is prescribed to the victim. The patient is advised to drink plenty of fluids. With a severe overdose, the development of severe metabolic disorders that require the appointment of intravenous rehydration is possible. |
