Effect of chewing gum on recovery after tonsillectomy

Patients are traditionally advised to eat early and frequently in the initial post-tonsillectomy period to reduce the severity of pain and to facilitate early resumption to a normal diet. We investigated the action of mastication and therefore the promotion of saliva formation and deglutition on the post-operative recovery of tonsillectomy patients.

We present a prospective randomised controlled trial set up to observe the effects of chewing gum on these patients. One hundred and two patients undergoing routine tonsillectomy for recurrent tonsillitis were randomised into cases (those given chewing-gum) and control groups (those not given chewing-gum). Eighty-four patients were reviewed on the seventh post-operative day. We measured the time taken in days for the subjects to resume to their normal diet after surgery and measured pain on a daily basis.

Our study demonstrated that chewing gum in the early post-operative period significantly delayed resumption of normal diet (Chi-squared test with Yates' correction, chi2= 4.6, P = 0.032). Chewing gum also increased the average amount of pain experienced by the cases over the controls and this became statistically significant on day 7 (mean difference = 14.8, t-test with two tailed probability, P = 0.041).

We conclude that chewing gum should not be routinely advised in the early period following tonsillectomy.