Effect of Gum-Chewing after Cesarean Section on Gastrointestinal Function Recovery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Trials

Objective: To evaluate the effect of chewing sugar-free gum on gastrointestinal function recovery after cesarean section. Methods: Randomized controlled trials comparing the use of chewing gum in postoperative recovery with a control group were retrieved from the databases including Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Science Direct, Web of Science, CBM, CNKI, Wanfang and VIP, et al . After screening literatures, evaluating the quality of studies, extracting data, the RevMan5.3 software was used for data analysis. Results: A total of 13 RCTs including 2233 patients were analyzed in the study. The results showed that chewing gum after cesarean delivery can effectively shorten the recovery time of bowel sounds, passage of flatus and first defecation (all P < 0.05). Conclusion: Chewing sugar-free gum after cesarean section can promote the early recovery of gastrointestinal function, but the side effects of chewing gum are still unclear, which needs more clinical, large sample and high-quality studies to further verify.