Editing Laxative (section)

===Effectiveness===
For adults, a [[randomized controlled trial]] found [[polyethylene glycol|PEG]] (MiraLax or GlycoLax) 17&nbsp;grams once per day to be superior to [[tegaserod]] at 6&nbsp;mg twice per day.<ref name="pmid17573794">{{cite journal |vauthors=Di Palma JA, Cleveland MV, McGowan J, Herrera JL | title = A randomized, multicenter comparison of polyethylene glycol laxative and tegaserod in treatment of patients with chronic constipation | journal = Am. J. Gastroenterol. | volume = 102 | issue = 9 | pages = 1964–71 | year = 2007 | doi = 10.1111/j.1572-0241.2007.01365.x | pmid = 17573794 | s2cid = 32055676 }}</ref> A randomized controlled trial found greater improvement from two sachets (26&nbsp;g) of PEG versus two sachets (20&nbsp;g) of lactulose.<ref name=pmid9895382>{{cite journal |vauthors=Attar A, Lémann M, Ferguson A, Halphen M, Boutron MC, Flourié B, Alix E, Salmeron M, Guillemot F, Chaussade S, Ménard AM, Moreau J, Naudin G, Barthet M | title = Comparison of a low dose polyethylene glycol electrolyte solution with lactulose for treatment of chronic constipation | journal = Gut | volume = 44 | issue = 2 | pages = 226–30 | year = 1999 | pmid = 9895382 | pmc = 1727381 | doi = 10.1136/gut.44.2.226 }}</ref> 17&nbsp;g per day of PEG has been effective and safe in a randomized, controlled trial for six months.<ref name="pmid17403074">{{cite journal |vauthors=Dipalma JA, Cleveland MV, McGowan J, Herrera JL | title = A randomized, multicenter, placebo-controlled trial of polyethylene glycol laxative for chronic treatment of chronic constipation | journal = Am. J. Gastroenterol. | volume = 102 | issue = 7 | pages = 1436–41 | year = 2007 | doi = 10.1111/j.1572-0241.2007.01199.x | pmid = 17403074 | s2cid = 10946562 }}</ref> Another randomized, controlled trial found no difference between sorbitol and lactulose.<ref name=pmid2122724>{{cite journal |vauthors=Lederle FA, Busch DL, Mattox KM, West MJ, Aske DM | title = Cost-effective treatment of constipation in the elderly: a randomized double-blind comparison of sorbitol and lactulose | journal = Am J Med | volume = 89 | issue = 5 | pages = 597–601 | year = 1990 | pmid = 2122724 | doi = 10.1016/0002-9343(90)90177-F }}</ref>

For children, PEG was found to be more effective than lactulose.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bestbets.org/cgi-bin/bets.pl?record=00901 |title=BestBETs: Is polyethylene glycol safe and effective for chro... |access-date=2007-09-06 }}</ref>