Research Information System
ERAS 2025 - ISTANBUL. Joint Internatioal Meeting on Enhanced Recovery After Surgery, İstanbul, Turkey, 18 - 20 September 2025, no.9, pp.68, (Summary Text)
Introduction / Purpose: The ERAS protocol,which is also used in obstetric surgery,aims to make the postoperative period more comfortable with early mobilization,early oral intake and
non-drug supportive applications.In this context,chewing gum stands out as a non-invasive,safe and easily applicable method that stimulates intestinal motility by increasing vagal stimulation
through the effect of "sham feeding".In this study, the effect of gum chewing initiated in the early post-cesarean period on gas output,defecation time and timing of oral intake was evaluated.
Materials and Method: The study included 41 patients who gave birth by elective cesarean section in 2025 and did not have any complications.Patients were randomly divided into chewing gum(n=23) and non-chewing(control, n=18) according to their preferences.The gum group was advised to chew gum for 15 minutes 3 times a day, at 2, 4 and 6 hours after operation.Age,gestational age,BMI,time to first flatulence,first oral intake and first defecate were recorded from all participants.
Findings: There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of age,gestational age and BMI.The mean time to first gas output was 19.48 hours in the gum
group and 22.44 hours in the control group.Despite the mean shortening of 2.96 hours,this difference was not statistically significant.The difference between the duration of oral intake,the time of first defecation,length of hospital stay and patient satisfaction score was not statistically significant. The data were presented as an average ± SD. BMI: Body mass index; p <0.05 was considered significant.
Discussion / Conclusion: The application of chewing gum in the early period after cesarean section did not provide a statistically significant improvement in the parameters evaluated in this study.However, positive trends have been observed in some clinical outcomes such as outgassing time,which indicates that there is an area that needs to be evaluated with larger sample and multicenter studies in the future.In line with these findings, chewing gum can be
integrated into postoperative care protocols as a low-cost and easily applicable method.However,prospective, randomized,multicenter studies are needed to obtain stronger
results.
Keywords: Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS), Chewing gum, Sham feeding, Bowel Function