During abdominal surgery , the stomach and intestines usually go on strike. Gut movement and digestion are halted.
Nothing can be eaten or drunk for days. Anybody who had undergone this ordeal will know that all-important signal that
the gut is working again: passing gas. This means the food can be consumed and going home is probably not far away.
A recent study indicates that giving patients specific verbal suggestions before major operations can influence
physiological recovery. In a study of 40 patients undergoing abdominal surgery, one group was given a 5-minute
presentation of general instructions and reassurance while patients in the experimental group received 5 minutes of
specific instructions about restoring bowl function.
As predicted, patients receiving specific suggestions reported passing first gas after only 2.6 days compared to 4.2 days
for the control group of patients. Length of time until first meal, another measure of return of bowl function, also favored the
preoperative suggestion group. Though not statistically significant, the experimental group also was discharged from their
hospital in 6.5 days on average - 1.5 days earlier than the control group of patients.
If these trend results are found significant with a larger group of patients, the projected savings from these brief
verbal instructions would be $1,200 per patient assuming minimum room rate of $800.00 per day.