Interesting article -Chewing gum after bowel surgery

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dbab

Veteran Member

Joined : Jan 2004

Posts : 4151

Posted 2/22/2006 1:56 PM (GMT 0)

Hi everyone... I hang out in the IBS forum however I came across this article which was interesting.

Chewing gum after bowel surgery gets you out of hospital sooner

http://www.news-medical.net/?id=16109

Sherrine

Forum Moderator

Joined : Apr 2005

Posts : 18467

Posted 2/22/2006 6:33 PM (GMT 0)

That makes good sense! When I had my surgery, 16 years ago, my doctor told me to start thinking about food, bring magazines with me with recipes in them, etc. He said it would stimulate the hunger mechanism and cause the bowels to start functioning. Sure enough, I was on clear liquids within 2 days (no ng tube...yea!) after surgery and released from the hospital one week after surgery.

Sherrine

CrazyHarry

Veteran Member

Joined : Mar 2006

Posts : 1034

Posted 4/27/2006 4:12 PM (GMT 0)

i had surgery to repair a perforation in my small intestine in late january (biopsy from colonoscopy caused the perforation and i was rushed in a few hours after my discharge to emergency exploratory surgery). anyhoo, my buddy stopped by while i was in the hospital and gave me some gum. the surgeon saw it the next day when he came in to check on me and said i shouldnt be using it cos it makes your system gassy after surgery (something like that) - and he is head of the hospital and one of the best in his field (study under koch (sp?), the pouch pioneer guy). my father showed me an article on this a few days after my release. so i guess not everyone knows about it or it is not a commonly held belief.

bryan

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