Medical Tribune October 2008 P3Chewing gum could help patients to recover after colectomy, a recent meta-analysis has shown.
The study, including five randomized controlled trials totaling 158 patients, found that gum significantly reduced the time to first flatus and first bowel movement following the operation. Postoperative hospital stay was also reduced, but this result did not reach statistical significance.
The researchers, from Imperial College London, UK, suggest that gum could serve as a form of “sham feeding” which stimulates the production of saliva, gastrointestinal hormones and pancreatic secretions.The potential for substantial cost savings means that larger placebocontrolled trials into the effects of chewing gum are warranted, they conclude. [Arch Surg 2008 143(8):788-93]
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