Role of Chewing Gum in Reducing Postoperative Ileus after Reversal of Ileostomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background Postoperative ileus is one of the most prevalent and troublesome problems after any elective or emergency laparotomy. Gum chewing has emerged as a new and simple modality for decreasing postoperative ileus. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of chewing gum in reducing postoperative ileus in terms of passage of flatus and total length of hospital stay. Patients and methods This single-blinded, randomized clinical trial was conducted in department of surgery, Services Hospital Lahore, between November 2013 and November 2015. The patients were divided into two groups: chewing gum (Group A) and no chewing gum (Group B). Starting 6 h after the operation, Group A patients were asked to chew gum for 30 min every 8 h; bowel sounds, passage of flatus and total length of hospital stay were noted. Outcome measures such as passage of flatus and total length of hospital stay in patients undergoing reversal of ileostomy were compared using t-test. Results Mean age of the patients in Group A was 26.12 (+/- 7.1) years and in Group B was 28.80 (+/- 10.5) years. There were 25 males (50%) and 25 females (50%) in Group A. In Group B, there were 29 males (58%) and 21 females (42%). Mean BMI in Group A was 23.5 (+/- 5.3), and in Group B was 21.4 (+/- 4.6). The mean time to pass flatus was noted to be significantly shorter, 18.36 (+/- 8.43) hours, in the chewing group (Group A), whereas in the no chewing gum group (Group B), it was 41.16 (+/- 6.14) hours (p value < 0.001). The mean length of hospital stay was significantly shorter 84 (+/- 8.3) hours in the chewing gum group (Group A) as compared to 107.04 (+/- 6.4) hours in the no chewing gum group (Group B) (p value 0.000). Conclusion It is concluded that postoperative chewing of gum after the reversal of ileostomy is accompanied with a significantly shorter time to passage of flatus and shorter length of hospital stay.