Chewing gum speeds recovery after laparoscopic colon surgery

Chewing gum a few times a day reduces the time it takes for bowel function to return after laproscopic colectomy, allowing patients to leave the hospital sooner. Patients who chewed a stick of gum four times a day had bowel activity return sooner and went home on average almost a day earlier than patients who were restricted to sips of water after surgery.

During surgery to treat colon cancer by removing all or part of the colon, rhythmic bowel activity stops, a condition known as *postoperative ileus*. Eating or drinking during this time can lead to bloating, abdominal pain, and vomiting. Until normal bowel motility returns, patients have been limited to ice chips or very small sips of clear liquids. They cannot leave the hospital until they can eat and drink normally and have had at least one bowel movement.

Surgeons at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas; Western Pennsylvania Hospital, Pittsburgh; and Presbyterian Hospital, Dallas randomized 102 patients undergoing both traditional open colectomy and laparoscopic colectomy to chew a stick of gum four times a day or be in a control group that was not given gum. Their research was discussed at the American College of Surgeons 2005 Clinical Congress in San Francisco.

For those who had laparoscopic surgery, bowel function returned for gum chewers an average of 2.9 days after surgery compared to 3.5 days for the control group. They left the hospital 4.4 days post-surgery compared to 5.2 days for the group that did not chew gum.

However, there was no similar difference for patients who had open colectomy. Both gum chewers and the control group had bowel function return at 3.6 days. Gum chewers went home at 5.9 days compared to 5.3 days for controls.

Harry Papaconstantinou, MD, who led the study explained that

There are multiple stimuli that can affect the gut motility after surgery, and some of these are manipulation of the bowel during surgery, the type of anesthetic used, any inflammation that might be caused by the surgery, as well as alterations in the autonomic [peripheral] nervous system, the release of neurotransmitters [chemical substances that influence the transfer of nerve impulses to muscle] and gut hormones. When patients undergo colectomy, all of these factors can be significant stimuli that results in postoperative ileus.

He estimated that each day in the hospital costs an average of $500 to $750 and that the small cost of several packs of gum could have a major impact on medical costs after laparoscopic surgery.

Posted by Kate Murphy on October 23rd, 2005
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | 4 Comments »
Tags: side effects, surgery

U.S. House Asks CMS to Extend Demonstration Project

This year the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) initiated a one-year demonstration project titled “Demonstration of Improved Quality of Care for Cancer Patients Undergoiong Chemotherapy.” The focus of the project was on measuring patient outcomes in three areas of concern often cited by patients undergoing chemotherapy: controlling pain, minimizing nausea and vomiting, and reducing fatigue.

October 6, 2005 H.Res. 261, a resolution introduced by Rep. Ralph Hall (TX-4) on May 4, 2005, passed the U.S. House of Representives in a voice vote. At the time of its passage the resolution had 33 cosponsors.

The purpose of the resolution, described in the title, was to express

>”the sense of the House of Representatives that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should be commended for implementing the Medicare demonstration project to assess the quality of care of cancer patients undergoiong chemotherapy, and should extend the project through 2006, subject to any appropriate modifications.”

Rep. Hall said the following about the need to extend this demonstration project in a floor statement he made the day of the resolution passed:

>”Delivering cancer treatment involves more than simply providing chemotherapy drugs. Oncologists need to plan drug regimens, educate caregivers, and monitor patient symptoms. They are responsible for managing pain, minimizing nausea, and limiting fatigue.

>”The demonstration project was critically important to protecting quality cancer care in 2005. It provided resources to assess the patient experience with chemotherapy side effects, including pain, nausea, and fatigue. The project has achieved three important objectives: collecting data to improve the quality of cancer care, maintaining stability in the cancer care delivery system, and focusing limited resources in an aspect of cancer treatment most difficult for patients.”

CMS conducts and sponsors a number of demonstrations projects to test and measure the effect of potential program changes.

Posted by Dusty Weaver on October 22nd, 2005
Posted in: Policy & Advocacy News | No Comments »

C3 Joins National Efforts to Save Lives

The Colorectal Cancer Coalition is pleased to announce that we have joined forces with the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (NCCRT), a nationwide coalition of private, public and volunteer organizations who work together to advance the control of colorectal cancer. Through coordinated efforts and improved communication, NCCRT:

* Strengthens the network of public and private organizations concerned
with promoting colorectal cancer screening
* Determines clinical and consumer barriers to screening through research
* Assesses current public awareness of and interest in screening
* Develops and disseminates health messages.

C3 remains focused on our mission to reduce the suffering and death due to colorectal cancer through pushing policy, research and awareness. We look forward to working with NCCRT in a combined effort to prove that colorectal cancer is preventable, treatable and beatable!

Posted by Nancy Roach on October 21st, 2005
Posted in: Policy & Advocacy News | No Comments »

Silicon Valley firms aim to be “Colon Cancer Free Zones”

[Xilinx](http://www.xilinx.com/), a maker of programmable chips, has joined other Santa Clara County companies in creating a *Colon Cancer Free Zone*. The company is providing seminar and internal website information to help their workers learn about the risks, tests, and treatments for colorectal cancer.

In addition, the company insurance coverage has been expanded to cover the full range of screening tests for colorectal cancer, including the more expensive colonoscopy.

According to an article in the October 21, 2005 issue of the [San Jose Mercury-News](http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/12959457.htm) Xilinx Vice-President Steve Haynes and other company executives had themselves screened for colorectal cancer and made the results public. `We declared ourselves *colon cancer free* to lead the way,” Haynes told the *Mercury News.*

Earlier this year Xilinx joined several other [Silicon Valley companies](http://www.embeddedstar.com/press/content/2005/8/embedded18726.html) to support the American Cancer Society effort to promote colorectal cancer awareness in [Santa Clara County](http://www.lizkniss.org/proclamations/2004/ColonCancer.html),

In 2003 oncologist Dr. Richard Androuny, author of [Understanding Colorectal Cancer,](http://www.upress.state.ms.us/catalog/spring2002/understanding_colon_cancer.html) urged the California city of Monte Serano in Santa Clara County to become a colon cancer free zone and raise awareness of colorectal cancer and its prevention.

Posted by Kate Murphy on October 21st, 2005
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »

The Colondar Team on CNN

CNN and the Associated Press have picked up a story about next year’s [Colondar](http://www.colonclub.org/colondar.html). They are featuring Chicago-area firefighter Steve DeLuca and his colon surgery scar.

DeLuca is the May pin-up for the [Colon Club's](http://www.colonclub.org/index.html) 2006 Colondar, featuring young colorectal cancer patients baring their scars for the camera. [Molly McMaster](http://www.colonclub.org/aboutus.html), who survived a colon cancer diagnosed when she was 23, and Hannah Vogler, whose cousin Amanda Roberts died of colorectal cancer when she was only 27, developed the Colondar to remind the public that, although colorectal cancer is most often found in people over 50, young people do get colorectal cancer and need to be aware of its symptoms.

The most exciting news about the news is the awareness the Colondar project brings to colorectal cancer. Trying to write this message, I got the following error: “403.9 Access Forbidden: Too many users are connected” That’s right, too many people were trying to access the [Colon Club website](http://www.colonclub.org/index.html) — perhaps for a peep at DeLuca, perhaps for more information about colorectal cancer and CRC screening.

Posted by Kate Murphy on October 19th, 2005
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »