To Explore the Impact of Different Methods on Gastrointestinal Function of Women Who Had Benign Gynecological Surgery: A Quasi-Experimental Study

[[abstract]]The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of gastrointestinal function recovery of chewing gum and early drinking by using quasi-experimental study. 103 patients were enrolled to three groups: 30 in gum-chewing group, 38 in drinking water group, and 35 in nothing-by-mouth group until flatus between September 2011 to February 2012. We found the primary outcomes, including the time period till first flatus, the time period till first passage of stool and the time period till first bowel movement through self-report were not statistically significant. The secondary outcomes we detected were length of hospital stay and complications of postoperative ileus, including nausea and vomit times. The length of hospital stay was statistically significant, the chewing gum group being the shortest, the drinking water group coming in second, and the fasting group with the longest length of stay. We found that chewing and drinking water didn't increase the incidence of ileus symptoms. Meanwhile, the gum-chewing group showed a decrease in vomit times compared to the fasting group. This study shows that after benign gynecological tumor surgery under general anesthesia, women used chewing gum or early drinking water are safe and effective interventions. We suggest that the two interventions could be used broadly in department of obstetrics and gynecology or others to improve the quality of surgical patient care