Effects of abdominal massage on gastrointestinal function in ICU patients: a meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the effects of abdominal massage on gastrointestinal function in the intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Methods Randomized controlled trials about the effects of abdominal massage on gastrointestinal function in ICU patients were included from multiple electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, Embase, CINAHL, China Academic Journals Full-Text Database (CNKI), Wanfang Database, and CQVIP, until November 2018. Studies were selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracting data and assessing. Data were analyzed by RevMan 5.3. Results Nine studies with 720 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis in the intervention group were as follows: abdomen circumference: mean difference (MD)=-4.22, 95% confidence interval (CI)=(-6.20, -2.24), P<0.00001; abdominal distension: MD=0.34, 95% CI=(0.22, 0.52), P<0.00001; gastric residual: MD=-41.51, 95% CI=(-55.86, -29.15), P=0.001; gastric retention: MD=-0.23, 95% CI (-0.30, -0.15), P<0.00001; and vomiting: MD=0.12, 95% CI=(0.04, 0.35), P=0.0001. Conclusions Abdominal massage is effective in reducing abdominal distension, gastric residual, and vomiting. When the intervention period was <7 days, abdominal massage could not reduce the abdominal circumference in ICU patients, and when the intervention period was equal to 7 days, abdominal massage could reduce the abdominal circumference in ICU patients.

Effect of Abdominal Massage on the Occurrence of Constipation among Critically Ill Ventilated Patients at Intensive Care Unit

“…This may be attributed to that massage of the abdomen lead to activation of intestine and stomach that cause easy digestion of food, hasting peristalsis, stimulating the nutrients absorption, and facilitating the passage of nutritional components in the intestine, resulting in decreasing abdominal distension (34) . This result was similar with Seiiedi (2020) (35) ,Wang, (2019) (36) and Uysal (2017) (37) who showed that massage of abdomen helps to decrease abdominal circumference, distension, GR, and vomiting. Gastric residual volume is the amount of liquid drained from a stomach following administration of enteral feed.…”

Effect of abdominal massage technique on constipation for post stroke patients: As a preventive measure

“…This finding was consistent with the findings of a systematic review and meta-analysis conducted by Xinbo et al [45] , who confirmed that the rate of abdominal distension was significantly lower in the abdominal massage group compared to the control group. Consistent with this finding, Wang et al [46] discovered that abdominal massage decreased the occurrence of gastric residue, abdominal distension, gastric retention, and vomiting among intensive care unit (ICU) patients, demonstrating the massage's efficacy.…”

Effect of Abdominal Massage on Gastrointestinal Functions in the Elderly

“…Supporting our results, previous studies stated that abdominal massage reduced the incidence of distension. 32,34,35 The meta-analysis study conducted in intensive care units patients by Wang et al 35 stated that significant results were found in the group that was massaged for 7 days compared with the control group.…”