The effect of menthol chewing gum application on postoperative nausea, vomiting and hospital stay in children with appendectomy

The study was conducted as an experimental study to determine the effect of menthol chewing gum application on postoperative nausea, vomiting and length of hospitalization in children with appendectomy. The population of the study consisted of children aged 7-18 who underwent appendectomy in Bursa Yüksek İhtisas Training and Research Hospital Pediatric Surgery clinic between April and June 2022. A total of 60 children (intervention=30, control=30) who had post-operative nausea and vomiting, who agreed to participate in the study, and who met the sample selection criteria, were included in the sample of the study. Starting from the second hour after the child was brought to the clinic after appendectomy, menthol sugar-free gum was given to 30 children in the intervention group with nausea and vomiting as soon as they could chew gum and follow the instructions and were asked to chew for an average of 15 minutes. The children in the control group were not treated. The data of the study were collected using a questionnaire on the child's introductory characteristics and postoperative nausea-vomiting and bowel functions, and the BARF nausea scale. Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test, Fisher-Freeman-Halton test, Spearman correlation coefficients, Kruskal Wallis test were used for statistical analysis of the study. The study groups were similar in terms of variables that may cause postoperative nausea and vomiting such as gender, age, BMI, type of surgery, family history of postoperative nausea and vomiting, and duration of surgery (p>0.01). It was determined that the BARF score measured during the gum chewing period was lower in the intervention group and, as expected, the difference score value calculated according to the pre-test period was higher in the intervention group (p<0.001). As a result of the analysis, it was determined that there was a significant difference between the groups according to the length of hospital stay, and menthol chewing gum reduced the length of hospital stay by one day (p=0.019). As a result, chewing gum can be recommended in the postoperative period in order to reduce the severity of postoperative nausea and length of hospitalization.