Effect of chewing gum on the promotion of intestinal function recovery after colorectal surgery: a meta-analysis / 中华胃肠外科杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To examine the safety and efficacy of chewing gum in promoting intestinal function recovery after colorectal surgery.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A thorough search of PubMed, Cochrane Library, CNKI, CBM and Wanfang data was performed. Randomized controlled trials(RCTs) about efficacy and safety of chewing gum in promoting intestinal function recovery after colorectal surgery were collected and meta-analysis was carried out with RevMan 5.0 software.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Thirteen RCTs including 993 patients were enrolled in this study with 499 patients in the chewing gum group and 494 patients in control group. Meta-analysis revealed that chewing gum could significantly reduce the time to first passage of flatus(MD=-11.66 h, 95%CI:-17.26--6.07, P<0.05), the time to the first defecation (MD=-32.31 h, 95%CI:-56.89--7.73, P<0.05), and postoperative hospital stay(MD=-1.10 d, 95%CI:-1.93--0.27, P<0.05) after colorectal surgery. Patients in chewing gum group also experienced less discomfort from bowel distension(OR=0.52, 95%CI:0.35-0.80, P<0.05) due to postoperative paralytic ileus. No significant difference in the incidence of nausea and vomiting was found.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The addition of chewing gum, a well tolerated intervention, to standard treatment may facilitate intestinal recovery and contribute to a shorter hospital stay following colorectal surgery.</p>