Although giving radiation before rectal cancer surgery reduces the risk that cancer will return in the rectum and nearby tissues, it does so at a cost.  Quality-of-life studies that accompanied a trial of a short course of radiation therapy before surgery  found more sexual and bowel problems with presurgical radiation. Read the rest of this entry »

Patients who received chemotherapy after surgery to remove colorectal cancer that had spread to their liver or lungs had better long-term outcomes than those who only had surgery, according to an analysis that pooled two similar studies.

Two different clinical trials studied chemotherapy after surgical removal of liver or lung metastases due to colorectal cancer.  While neither trial was large enough to draw clear conclusions on its own, researchers combined information from both to decide if chemo made a difference for patients. Read the rest of this entry »

Despite the fact that removing and testing at least 12 nearby lymph nodes during colorectal cancer surgery improves accurate staging and survival, most US hospitals are not reaching that goal.

In a recent study of nearly 1,300 hospitals, only 38 percent tested at least 12 nodes in 75 percent of colorectal cancer surgeries performed in 2004 and 2005. Read the rest of this entry »

Self-expanding metal stents can help patients with an obstruction from advanced colon cancer avoid surgery.

When a large tumor blocks the left side of the colon, surgeons can remove the tumor or put in a stent to move bowel contents around the obstruction.  According to a recent study, patients live as long with either technique but spend less time in the hospital and have fewer complications with stents. Read the rest of this entry »

Five randomized studies have shown that chewing gum after colon surgery reduces the time it takes for patients to pass gas and have a bowel movement.

Patients in the studies chewed sugarless gum from 5 to 45 minutes, three times a day after surgery.  Control groups had similar surgeries but didn’t chew gum.

There was a trend toward leaving the hospital sooner, but the studies were too small to definitely show fewer hospital days for the gum chewers.

Still, the study authors wrote,

The potential cost savings from the reduction of even one postoperative day compared with the cost of several sticks of chewing gum are huge.

During intestinal surgery, the bowels stop moving contents forward, a situation known as ileus.  After surgery doctors listen for sounds in the bowel and wait for gas to pass through the rectum as signs that bowel activity is resuming.

Overall in the five studies, patients who chewed gum passed gas about half a day sooner and had their first bowel movement a day sooner.

The team concluded,

Chewing gum may enhance intestinal recoveryfollowing colectomy and reduce the length of hospital stay. Owing to the potential for substantial cost savings, larger-scale,blinded, randomized controlled trials with placebo arms are warranted.

Previously, C3 News has reported post-surgical gum chewing studies in California and Dallas and Pittsburgh.

More information about the overview of gum studies is on Medpage Today.

SOURCE: Purkayastha et al., Archives of Surgery, Volume 143, Number 8, August, 2008.