Sanjay Purkayastha and colleagues at St. Mary's Hospital in London said postoperative ileus -- the inability of the intestines to pass contents -- is regarded as an inevitable response to the trauma of abdominal surgery and is a major contributing factor to postoperative pain and discomfort associated with abdominal distension, nausea, vomiting and cramping pain.

The researchers analyzed data from five trials involving 158 patients published in or before July 2006. In each trial, a group of patients chewed sugarless gum three times per day following surgery for a period of five to 45 minutes and were compared with patients who did not chew gum.

The review, published in the Archives of Surgery, found when the trial results were combined, patients who chewed gum took an average of 1.10 fewer days to have a bowel movement, a sign of returning intestinal function.

The current evidence suggests chewing gum after abdominal surgery offers significant benefits in reducing the duration of ileus; however, the studies are insufficiently powered to identify a significant benefit in length of stay, the study authors concluded.