Gastrointestinal recovery after surgery: protocol for a systematic review

Area of Science:

• Surgery
• Gastroenterology
• Clinical Epidemiology

Background:

• Postoperative gastrointestinal dysfunction is a significant cause of morbidity.
• The full impact of gastrointestinal recovery time across all surgical procedures remains unclear.
• Understanding recovery is crucial for optimizing postoperative care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize the expected duration of gastrointestinal recovery after any surgical procedure.
• To identify factors associated with variations in postoperative gastrointestinal recovery time.
• To inform global clinical practices for surgical patients.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review and meta-analysis of studies reporting time to first postoperative stool passage.
• Searches of MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL.
• Random-effects model meta-analysis with meta-regressions to explore influencing factors.

Main Results:

• This section is to be filled after the study is conducted.

Conclusions:

• This study will provide critical data on gastrointestinal recovery timelines post-surgery.
• Findings will help standardize and improve postoperative care protocols worldwide.
• Identifying predictive factors will aid in managing patient expectations and recovery.