Xylitol improves compliance of patients to ¹³C-urea breath test

Objective To observe the effect of xylitol on the texture of reagents used in 13C-urea breath test and the value of DOB test. Methods One hundred and twenty patients were randomly divided into 0.05g or 0.10g xylitol group and non xylitol group.Texture of reagents used in 13C-urea breath test was assessed by the patients themselves in the xylitol group.DOB value was detected twice by paired test. Results The acceptable texture was significantly higher in 0.05g and 0.10g xylitol group than in non xylitol group（43.3% and 66.7% vs 20.0% and 33.3%,P＜0.05） and in patients receiving 0.10g xylitol than in those receiving 0.05g xylitol（P＜0.05）.However,no difference was observed in DOB value between patients receiving 0.05g or 0.10g xylitol（P＞0.05）. Conclusion Adding an appropriate amount of xylitol can improve the texture and compliance of patients to 13C-urea breath test.The best result can be achieved by adding 0.10g xylitol with no effect on the DOB value in 13C-urea breath test.