• Chao Xu, Jie Peng, Su Liu, and Dun-Yi Qi.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China.
• J. Obstet. Gynaecol. Res. 2018 May 1; 44 (5): 936-943.

AimRecently, several randomized controlled trials (RCT) reported the effect of chewing gum on gastrointestinal function after gynecological surgery; however, these results are inconsistent. The aim of this study was to systematically analyze the effect of chewing gum on postoperative gastrointestinal function and complications in women undergoing gynecological surgery.MethodsPumbed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Chinese Wanfang databases, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and http://clinicaltrials.gov were searched from inceptions to April 30, 2017. Studies including chewing gum's impact on postoperative gastrointestinal function or complications were evaluated. Two authors individually performed data extraction from 10 RCT. Weighted mean difference (WMD) and odds ratio (OR) were used.ResultsContrasting the group of standard postoperative care, the gum chewing group had a lower duration from the end of operation to first aerofluxus (WMD -7.55, 95%CI: -10.99 to -4.12); first intestinal sounds (WMD -6.20, 95%CI: -8.14 to -4.27); first defecation (WMD -12.24, 95%CI: -18.47 to -6.01); hospitalization duration (WMD -0.72. 95%CI -1.19 to -0.25); and lower incidence of nausea (OR 0.45, 95%CI: 0.29 to 0.69), vomiting (OR 0.38, 95%CI: 0.22 to 0.68) and postoperative ileus (OR 0.25, 95%CI: 0.14 to 0.44).ConclusionChewing gum is an effective measure to ameliorate gastrointestinal function and decrease complications after gynecological surgery.© 2018 Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

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