• Zunjia Wen, Meifen Shen, Chao Wu, Jianping Ding, and Binbin Mei.
• The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, No. 188 Shizi Street, Gusu district, Su Zhou, Jiangsu province, China.
• Bmc Pregnancy Childb. 2017 Apr 18; 17 (1): 105.

BackgroundGum chewing has been reported to enhance the intestinal function recovery after caesarean section, current perspectives and practice guidelines vary widely on the use of gum chewing, more studies on the role of gum chewing after caesarean section are needed.MethodsWe performed a comprehensive, systematic meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the efficacy of gum chewing after caesarean section. Studies were identified by searching EMBASE et al database (until June 30, 2016). Summary odd ratios or weighted mean differences with 95% confidence intervals were calculated for each outcome with fixed- or random-effects model.ResultsTen RCTs with a total of 1659 women were included in our meta-analysis. Gum chewing provided significant benefits in reducing the time to first passage of flatus, first defecation, first bowel sound, first bowel movement and the length of hospital stay, but not in the time to first feeling of hunger.ConclusionsGun chewing hastens the intestinal function recovery after caesarean section and offers a safe and inexpensive option. High-quality and larger-scale RCTs are still warranted to clarify the role of gum chewing in intestinal function recovery after caesarean section.

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