A study on the influence of gum-chewing on bowel function after abdominal surgery

INTRODUCTION AND AIM: Today, it is desirable that bowel function will resume as early as possible following a common surgery that is seen as a reliable and efficient treatment method. Therefore, this study was planned to determine the effect of gum-chewing on the time required for the first flatus, first defecation, and hospital discharge in the postoperative period in patients who had undergone abdominal surgery. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Planned as a randomized controlled trial, the study was carried out between September 2015 and June 2016 on 100 patients who had undergone gastric and small/large intestine surgery. Patients were divided into 2 groups via simple random sampling method: 50 patients in the gum group and 50 patients in the control group. Having their nasogastric catheters removed, the patients in the Gum group chewed sugarless gums three times a day for at least 45 minutes, until the first flatus and defecation. The mean time to first flatus and the mean time to the first defecation, in addition to bowel sounds, were recorded in the data collection form. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS 23 software, along with the independent samples t test, the ANOVA test, Pearson correlation and the dependent samples t test. FINDINGS: There was significant difference (p<0,05) in terms of mean time to the first flatus, first defecation and hospital discharge between the Gump group and the control group. It was found that the mean time to flatus for patients in the Gum group was 60,06 hours while it was 79,26 hours for those in the control group; the mean time to defecation in the Gum group was 75,40 hours while it was 98,40 hours for those in the control group; and the mean time to discharge in the Gum group was 97,32 hours while it was 117,74 hours for those in the control group. RESULT: According to the results of this study, post-abdominal surgery gum chewing patients were found to have earlier first flatus and first defecation than the non-gum-chewing patients, and they were also discharged sooner than the control group. Therefore, it is believed that gum-chewing is a fairly safe, easy, cheap and tolerable alternative approach for patients not fit for early postoperative feeding. Keywords: abdominal surgery, bowel function, gum-chewing, flatus and defecation, discharge