Chewing Gum Use to Reduce Post-operative Ileus in Pediatric Patients

Post- operative ileus refers to the time after surgery before coordinated electromotor bowel function resumes. It's treatment and prevention may signify an elevated hospitalization cost and the exposure to the patient to adverse effects of drugs. The current clinical trial has as primary objective to prove the efficacy of chewing gum as a preventive measure of post-operative ileus in pediatric patients after gastrointestinal surgery through the determination of the time the patient takes to tolerate oral intake, pass flatus, present bowel movements and the time of hospital stay. Patients will be assigned either to the case group (chewing gum + standard treatment) or to the control group (standard treatment), in both of them time from the end of surgery to the moment the patient presents first bowel movement, passes flatus, tolerates oral intake (any type of food) and is discharged from hospital; will be measured in hours and then analyzed to determine the validity of these data.