SynthesisJournal of gastrointestinal surgery : official journal of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract2020
The Impact of Sham Feeding with Chewing Gum on Postoperative Ileus Following Colorectal Surgery: a Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials.
Synthesis in Journal of gastrointestinal surgery : official journal of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07425249 (Impact of Chewing Gum on Postoperative Gut Motility in Gastrointestinal Surgery Patients), which is not on this map. Cited by 33 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Impact of Chewing Gum on Postoperative Gut Motility in Gastrointestinal Surgery Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial at Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar, Pakistan
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 77 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of chewing gum on clinical outcomes and postoperative recovery in adult patients after gastrointestinal surgery: an umbrella review.International journal of surgery (London, England) · 2025Pooled it
- The effect of early oral postoperative feeding on the recovery of intestinal motility after gastrointestinal surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Pooled it
- Effect of acupuncture inclusion in the enhanced recovery after surgery protocol on tumor patient gastrointestinal function: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies.Frontiers in oncology · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of chewing gum on gastrointestinal function in patients following spinal surgery: a meta-analysis and systematic review.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2022Pooled it
- The effect of coffee/caffeine on postoperative ileus following elective colorectal surgery: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.International journal of colorectal disease · 2022Pooled it
- The impact of gum-chewing on postoperative ileus following gynecological cancer surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Pooled it
- The effect of chewing gum on postoperative ileus after laparotomy for gastroduodenal perforations: a randomized controlled trial.BMC gastroenterology · 2025Trial
- [Efficacy of chewing gum in post-cesarean ileus: A randomized clinical trial].Revista medica del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social · 2025Trial
- Comparison of the effect of chewing gum with routine method on ileus after burns: a randomized clinical trial.BMC research notes · 2024Trial
- Impact of Preoperative Gum Chewing on Postoperative Anti-Emetic Use in Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Surgery for Benign Ovarian Masses: A Prospective, Single-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Trial
- Hollow viscus perforation after spine surgery: A focused review with illustrative cases.North American Spine Society journal · 2026Review
- Article
- A Randomized Controlled Trial of Paula Method Versus Gum Chewing for Gastrointestinal Reactivation After Cesarean Delivery.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Commentary on "The effects of coffee versus gum chewing after cesarean on bowel functions".International journal of surgery (London, England) · 2026Article
- Article
- Hospital length of stay, 30-day emergency readmissions and the role of the DrEaMing enhanced recovery pathways in colonic and rectal surgery in England.British journal of anaesthesia · 2025Observational
- Article
- Perioperative bowel regimens following posterior spinal fusions for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: a systematic review.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2025Article
- The role of medium-frequency pulsed electrotherapy in patients with postoperative ileus after gynecological surgery.Frontiers in surgery · 2025Article
- Gut microbiota therapy in gastrointestinal diseases.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChewing gum as a form of sham feeding is an inexpensive and well-tolerated means of promoting gastrointestinal motility following major abdominal surgery. Although recognised by the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Society as one of the multimodal approaches to expedite recovery after surgery, strong evidence to support its use in routine postoperative practice is lacking. METHODOLOGY: A comprehensive literature review of all randomised controlled trials (RCTs) was performed in the Medline and Embase databases between 2000 and 2019. Studies were selected to compare the use of chewing gum versus standard care in the management of postoperative ileus (POI) in adults undergoing colorectal surgery. The primary outcome assessed was the incidence of POI. Secondary outcomes included time to passage of flatus, time to defecation, total length of hospital stay and mortality.
resultsSixteen RCTs were included in the systematic review, of which ten (970 patients) were included in the meta-analysis. The incidence of POI was significantly reduced in patients utilising chewing gum compared to those having standard care (RR 0.55, 95% CI 0.39, 0.79, p = 0.0009). These patients also had a significant reduction in time to passage of flatus (WMD - 0.31, 95% CI - 0.36, - 0.26, p < 0.00001) and time to defecation (WMD - 0.47, 95% CI - 0.60, - 0.34, p < 0.00001), without significant differences in the total length of hospital stay or mortality.
conclusionThe use of chewing gum after colorectal surgery is a safe and effective intervention in reducing the incidence of POI and merits routine use alongside other ERAS pathways in the postoperative setting.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.