According to an Austrian study, chewing gum accelerates the return to normal bowel function after laparoscopic intervention.
Chewing gum seems to have hidden virtues! Indeed, according to an Austrian study published in Obstetrics and Gynecology, chewing chewing gum accelerates the return to normal bowel function after laparoscopic intervention.
Several studies had already shown that the use of chewing gum after an abdominal operation such as a cesarean section, a liver resection or a colorectal operation stimulates the motility of the intestine, reports the Apm news agency. Heinrich Husslein and his colleagues at the Klagenfurt am Woethersee clinic in Vienna wanted to know whether it was also of clinical interest to have patients chew gum after a minimally invasive operation that did not involve the intestine.
Thus, within the framework of a prospective study, two groups were formed from the 179 patients. 85 patients chewed sugar-free chewing gum for 15 minutes every two hours, while the other group (94 patients) followed normal treatment. Patients in both groups underwent a laparoscopic gynecological operation under general anesthesia. The operations in question were salpingectomies, hysterectomies or diagnostic laparoscopies with or without endometrial removal.
Among the efficacy criteria retained, one related to the regular bowel sounds recorded with the sthethoscope three and five hours after the operation, as well as the time elapsed before the first flatulence. As a result of the scientists, the time between the operation and the first flatulence was 6.2 hours in the gum chewing group against 8.1 hours in the control group. Regular bowel noise was more frequently obtained after three hours (76% vs. 47%) and five hours (91% vs. 78%) in the chewing gum group than in the control group.
So as chewing gum was otherwise well tolerated and well accepted by patients, the authors of the study conclude that “chewing gum should be recommended to all patients in addition to conventional care after a laparoscopic gynecological operation, especially since it is a very inexpensive measure ”.
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