Effectiveness of Gum Chewing on the Post-Op Recovery of Gastrointestinal Function After Caesarean Section

Introduction: Caesarean section (CS) is the most common major surgery in the world and the rates are 1 increasing (Degani and Sikich, 2015) . Postoperative ileus is an impaired condition of gastrointestinal motility dened as the interval from surgery until the passage of atus or stool and the tolerance of an oral diet that should 2 occur within the fourth postoperative day and complicates up to 20% of caesarean delivery (Vather et al, 2013) . Aims and Objectives: To study the effectiveness of Gum Chewing on the post-op recovery of gastrointestinal function after caesarean section. The primary objective is to determine the relationship between gum chewing and recovery of gastro intestinal function after uncomplicated caesarean section. Materials and Methods: This prospective study was conducted on 300 patients from the immediate post-operative ward of PMCH who had undergone caesarean section. Written informed consent was obtained from all post caesarean women who participated in the study. They were given one stick of sugarless chewing gum from 4 hours postoperatively for 20 minutes once in every 4 hours till the passage of rst atus. Further management was done according to the hospital protocol. Post caesarean women were followed up to discharge. Time taken for the auscultation of rst bowel sound, rst atus, rst stools were recorded along with any bloating, nausea, vomiting, eructation or other difculties. Time taken for the above parameters were compared between the study and control groups and studied for signicance. The parameters were analysed and compared with equal number of matched controls. Results: The result showed that the mean time until 1st bowel sounds was signicantly (p=0.0001) lower among Gum chewing (10.05±1.65) group than Controls (15.58±1.50). The mean time until 1st atus was signicantly (p=0.0001) lower among Gum chewing (17.66±2.13) group than Controls (24.52±3.83).The mean time until 1st bowel movement was signicantly (p=0.0001) lower among Gum chewing (20.20±2.54) group than Controls (30.11±3.40). Conclusion: The study concluded that chewing gum is associated with early recovery of intestinal function after caesarean section, which may be helpful in reducing postoperative parameters and shorten the length of hospital stay.