Abstract:

Today, one of the most common problems faced by patients after abdominal surgery is gastrointestinal motility dysfunction. It occurs with signs and symptoms such as inability to pass gas, lack of bowel movement, abdominal pain, distention, nausea, vomiting, constipation in patients. Failure to control these symptoms early causes additional problems in patients such as fluid-electrolyte imbalance, delayed recovery, decreased comfort, prolonged hospital stay, and increased risk of hospital-acquired infection. Both pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment methods are used to increase intestinal motility in the postoperative period. In the literature, it is stated that non-pharmacological methods such as early mobilization, chewing gum, early oral hydration (water, warm water, tea, coffee consumption) and hot application are effective in increasing intestinal motility. These methods are preferred for reasons such as being inexpensive, easy to apply, prevent drug side effects, and have no negative effects. In this review, studies with high evidence level regarding non-pharmacological methods used to increase bowel motility of patients after abdominal surgery are included. It is recommended that surgical nurses include evidence-based practices to increase gastrointestinal motility in nursing care and increase the number of randomized controlled clinical trials on the subject.

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