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Published on: September 11, 2012
Clinical outcomes of manual bowel decompression (milking) in the mechanical small bowel obstruction: a prospective
Ali Ezer1, Nurkan Torer, Tamer Colakoglu
1Department of General Surgery, Baskent University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Republic of Turkey. draliezer@yahoo.com
Background:
The aim of this prospective randomized study was to investigate the effects of manual bowel decompression in patients who were operated on for mechanical small bowel obstruction.
Methods:
Between March 2008 and February 2010, 40 consecutive patients with mechanical small bowel obstruction were randomized into 2 clinically comparable groups. The intestinal content of the dilated small bowel was caressed to the stomach (by milking) and aspirated via a nasogastric tube in the milking group (group M, n = 20) and left uncaressed in the control Group (group C, n = 20). Patients' characteristics and general operative outcomes were compared and analyzed.
Results:
The resumption of a regular diet and postoperative hospital stay (P = .68) were not significantly different in groups M and group C. Similarly, there were no differences between the 2 groups regarding respiratory complications (P = .34), bacterial translocation (P = 1), or wound infection (P = 1).
Conclusions:
The findings suggest that routine milking is unnecessary in mechanical small bowel obstruction.
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