Chewing gum for declining ileus and accelerating gastrointestinal recovery after appendectomy

Objective Ileus usually occurs after abdominal surgery and is allied with complication and delays recovery. It is hypothesized that chewing gum reduces postoperative ileus by improving early recovery of gastrointestinal function. This study aimed to explore whether chewing gum after appendectomy accelerates the recovery of gastrointestinal function. Methods Randomized control trial was used in this study. This study was conducted in the General Surgery Department at Zagazig University Hospital. A total of 240 patients undergoing appendectomy were involved in this study; they were divided into the chewing sugar-free gum group (120) and the control group (120). Two tools were utilized in this study. Tool I: Structured Interviewing Schedule: part 1: assessment of personnel characteristics. Part 2: assessment of anthropometric measurements of the studied subjects as well as pre- and intraoperative indicators of them. Tool II: postoperative assessment sheet: assessed postoperative parameters of the intestinal function, occurrence of postoperative ileus, and related symptoms were assessed among studied participants. Results There were highly significant statistical differences in the time of resumption of gastrointestinal functions and postoperative ileus symptoms between the two groups ( P < 0.001), which was significantly shorter in the chewing gum group compared to the control group. Conclusions The use of chewing gum is a useful and cheap method that can be employed to cut down the time to recover and accelerate normalization of gastrointestinal function. Chewing sugar-free gum after abdominal surgery is recommended to be added to the protocol of nursing care in the surgery units as well as its involvement in the nursing curriculum.