The survey of the effect of ginger extract on gastric residual volume in mechanically ventilated patients hospitalized in the Intensive Care Units

Background and purpose: Delayed gastric emptying in mechanically ventilated patients is common. According to evidences, Ginger can accelerate gastric emptying. This study aimed to determine the effect of ginger extract on gastric residual volume of patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. Materials and Methods: In this double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial with before and after schematization, 24 mechanically ventilated patients hospitalized in ICUs were divided into two groups, intervention group (12 patients) and control group (n = 12) after matching for sex and severity of disease. After 48 hours of feeding with a standard gavage solution, the intervention group received 120mg of ginger extract in 4 days and the control group received 5 ml water as placebo in 4 days. The mean residual volume was recorded in the fifth and the sixth days. Data analysis was done with independent and paired T-tests at a significance level of 0.05. Results: The mean residual volume in the first 48 hours was not significantly different between the groups. But after 48 hours of starting treatment, the average of mean and standard deviation of the residual volume in the fifth and sixth days were (24.58±16.81) in intervention group and (108.33±15.09) in control group that according to the Independent T-test showed a significant difference (P <0.0001). Discussion and Conclusion: The result of this study showed that ginger extract reduces gastric residual volume in mechanically ventilated patients hospitalized in intensive care units compared with placebo. © 2013 AENSI Publisher All rights reserved.