Patients who have abdominal4 surgery often suffer a slowdown or shutdown of the bowels called ileus that causes pain, vomiting5 and abdominal swelling6, and they may not be able to tolerate food or even water, the report published in the Archives of Surgery said.
Study participants had no problem chewing sugarless gum three times a day. Chewing stimulates7 nerves that promote the release of hormones8 responsible for activating9 the gastrointestinal system, wrote study author Rob Schuster of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California.
Seventeen of 34 patients who chewed gum beginning a few hours after surgery passed gas several hours sooner than the half who did not chew, and they had their first bowel2 movements an average of 63 hours after surgery compared with 89 hours for non-chewers.
The gum chewers got out of the hospital an average of 4.3 days after surgery versus10 6.8 days for non-chewers, reducing cosplayts and lowering the risk of complications .
We conclude that gum chewing early in the posTOPerative period following hastens time to bowel motility and ability to tolerate feedings, the report said. This inexpensive and well-tolerated treatment resulted in earlier hospital discharge.
参考译文
本周一公布的一项研究表明，病人在同意肠道手术之后，嚼口香糖可以帮助他们麻痹的肠道恢复运动，能够帮助病人早日出院。
据刊在《外科文献》上的报告称，病人在同意腹部手术后，常常会出现肠梗阻现象，即肠道运动缓慢或是肠道运动停止，这将引发腹痛、呕吐或腹涨等反应，病人可能因此没办法进食，甚至没办法饮水。
美国加州圣芭芭拉医疗站的罗布-舒斯特是这项研究报告的写作人。他在报告中写道，此项研究的参与者天天嚼3次无糖口香糖。嚼口香糖将刺激人体内某些释放激素的神经，而这类激素能够帮助促进肠胃系统活动。
在参与研究的34名病人中，有一半的病人在手术之后的几小时就开始咀嚼口香糖。研究发现，咀嚼口香糖的病人比另一半不嚼口香糖的病人早数小时排气，并且，前者平均在手术后的63个小时里就出现了初次肠道运动，而后者在术后89个小时才出现初次肠道运动。
那些天天咀嚼口香糖的病人术后平均4.3天就出院了，而另外不咀嚼口香糖的病人平均6.8天后才出院。咀嚼口香糖不只降低了病人的医疗开支，同时还减少了发生并发症的危险。
大家得出如此一个结论：手术后早期咀嚼口香糖，能够帮助病人肠道早日恢复运动并促进他们的进食能力，报告说，这种实惠又容易同意的治疗办法能帮助病人早日出院。
