The effect of the herbal medicines dai-kenchu-to and keishi-bukuryo-gan on bowel movement after colorectal surgery.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the herbal medicines Dai-ken-chu-to and Keish-bukuryo-gan in the patients undergoing colorectal resection.


METHODS
Sixty-six patients undergoing colorectal resection were studied. Patients in the Study group began on 7.5g of Dai-ken-chu-to and 6.0g of Keish-bukuryo-gan on the first postoperative day. Control group did not take herbal medicine at all. All of the patients were monitored for vomiting, abdominal distention, length of ileus, tolerance of regular diet, duration of intravenous fluid administration, length of hospitalization, and complications.


RESULTS
The time to flatus was 63.1 +/- 22.8 hours and 95.4 +/- 33.0 hours in the Study and Control group, respectively (p<0.05). And the time to tolerance of regular diet was 2.53 +/- 1.93 days and 6.25 +/- 1.50 days in the Study and Control group, respectively (p<0.05). In addition, length of postoperative hospitalization in the patients within the Study group was significantly shorter than those within the Control group (15.7 +/- 4.8 days vs. 20.8 +/- 4.8 days, p<0.05). The incidence of complications including nausea, vomiting, anastomotic leak and wound infection occurred equally in both groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Administration of Dai-ken-chu-to and Keish-bukuryo-gan is safe, with no evidence of increased morbidity, and is also highly effective in improving postoperative bowel motility and in reducing hospital stay.
Suehiro
Taketoshi
T
Department of General Surgical Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, Gunma, Japan. tsuehiro@med.gunma-u.ac.jp
Matsumata
Takashi
T
Shikada
Yasunori
Y
Sugimachi
Keizo
K
D000368:Aged; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004435:Eating / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005769:Gastrointestinal Motility / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D005894:Panax; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011182:Postoperative Care; D032106:Zanthoxylum; D030521:Zingiberaceae
D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D010936:Plant Extracts; C121414:dai-kenchu-to; C054593:keishibukuryogan