Effect of gum chewing on the recovery from laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgery.
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to examine the effect of gum chewing after laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgery.


METHODS
We reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent laparoscopic colorectal cancer surgery in Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea School of Medicine. We divided the patients into 2 groups: group A consisted of 67 patients who did not chew gum; group B consisted of 65 patients who chewed gum. We analyzed the short-term clinical outcomes between the two groups to evaluate the effect of gum chewing.


RESULTS
The first passage of gas was slightly earlier in group B, but the difference was not significant. However, the length of hospital stay was 6.7 days in group B, which was significantly shorter than that in group A (7.3 days, P = 0.018).


CONCLUSIONS
This study showed that length of postoperative hospital stay was shorter in the gum-chewing group. In future studies, we expect to elucidate the effect of gum chewing on the postoperative recovery more clearly.
Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, The Catholic University of Korea School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Duk Yeon
DY
Hwang
Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, The Catholic University of Korea School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Ho Young
HY
Kim
Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, The Catholic University of Korea School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Ji Hoon
JH
Kim
Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, The Catholic University of Korea School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
In Gyu
IG
Lee
Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, The Catholic University of Korea School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Jun Ki
JK
Kim
Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, The Catholic University of Korea School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Seung Taek
ST
Oh
Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, The Catholic University of Korea School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Yoon Suk
YS
Lee
Chewing gum; Colorectal neoplasms; Laparoscopy; Sham feeding