Cancer Research Lab

Chewing gum beginning the day after radical cystectomy with urinary diversion hastens the return of bowel motility by about half a day, researchers report.

“We currently start patients (chewing gum) on the day after surgery, chewing one stick three times per day,” Dr. Raj S. Pruthi said. “The outcome, a return of bowel function, was faster in the gum-chewing group, perhaps due to reflexes in our body, such as orogastric and orocolic reflexes, that may stimulate gastrointestinal activity with chewing.”

Dr. Pruthi and colleagues at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill studied two groups of patients undergoing radical cystectomy with urinary diversion for bladder cancer. The first group of 51 patients underwent surgery between July 2004 and August 2005 and served as controls. The second group, also 51 patients, underwent surgery between September 2005 and July 2006. This group began chewing gum the day after surgery.

The researchers compared time to flatus, time to bowel movement, hospital length of stay and the complication rate between the two groups.

Time to flatus was 2.4 days for the gum-chewing patients and 2.9 days for controls. Time to bowel movement was 3.2 days and 3.9 days for study patients and controls, respectively. Hospital length of stay was not significantly different between the two groups.

“The gum chewing had no side effects, as would be expected,” Dr. Pruthi noted. “In fact, most patients enjoyed it to stimulate their salivation and keep their mouth wet.”

The study is published in the December issue of Urology.

“Gum chewing is a simple, safe, inexpensive, readily available, innocuous treatment with some potential real benefits with regard to bowel and overall recovery,” Dr. Pruthi said. “Thus, there is seemingly little or no downside to such an intervention and something that can be readily given to most patients.”