Recovery Of Bowel Function After Gastrointestinal Surgery Aided By Chewing Gum

Main Category: GastroIntestinal / Gastroenterology
Also Included In: Urology / Nephrology;  Complementary Medicine / Alternative Medicine
Article Date: 28 Feb 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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In an article recently recommended by Bradley Kropp of Faculty of 1000 Medicine, researchers find chewing gum is a simple solution to the recovery of bowel function after gastrointestinal surgery - a problem that has troubled patients and physicians for decades.

Authors of the paper published in Urology evaluated 102 patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery and gave half of them 5 pieces of chewing gum per day after their operation. Chewing the gum is thought to stimulate the smooth muscle fibers and secretion from the salivary glands and liver. The 51 patients who chewed gum recovered their bowel movement significantly faster than those who did not.

Pediatric Urologist, Kropp will be giving his patients undergoing reconstructive surgery a piece of gum following their operation. He says, " In today's high-tech, molecular-driven scientific world, it is nice to come across an article that can be implemented immediately into our practices without increased healthcare cost."

Kropp also adds, "Just think how much a pack of gum would cost today had the pharmaceutical industry come across this information first?"

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1. Bradley Kropp, Faculty Member for F1000 Medicine Urology and Professor of Pediatric Urology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, recommended this article.

2. Gum chewing stimulates bowel motility in patients undergoing radical cystectomy with urinary diversion. Kouba EJ, Wallen EM, Pruthi RS in Urology 2007 Dec 70(6):1053-6

3. Faculty of 1000 Medicine's evaluation of this article is available at http://www.f1000medicine.com/

4. Faculty of 1000 Medicine, http://www.f1000medicine.com/, is a unique online service that helps you stay informed of high impact articles and access the opinions of global leaders in medicine. Our distinguished international faculty select and evaluate key articles across medicine, providing a rapidly updated, authoritative guide to the medical literature that matters.

Source: Jemima Tonks
BioMed Central

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