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Efficacy of Metoclopramide in Postoperative Ileus after Exploratory Laparotomy
Author(s) -
Seta Maria L.,
KalePradhan Pramodini B.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
pharmacotherapy: the journal of human pharmacology and drug therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.227
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1875-9114
pISSN - 0277-0008
DOI - 10.1592/phco.21.15.1181.33888
Subject(s) - metoclopramide , medicine , exploratory laparotomy , ileus , anesthesia , laparotomy , defecation , observational study , prospective cohort study , surgery , vomiting
Study Objective. To assess the efficacy of metoclopramide for treatment of postoperative ileus in patients who underwent exploratory laparatomy. Design. Prospective observational study. Setting. Surgical intensive care unit (SICU). Patients. Thirty‐two patients who underwent exploratory laparatomy. Intervention. Sixteen patients received metoclopramide, and 16 did not. The primary outcome was time to first postoperative bowel movement. Secondary end points were length of stay (LOS) in the SICU and total hospital LOS. Measurements and Main Results. The mean number of days to first bowel movement was nearly identical for both the treatment group and control group (4.8 vs 4.7 days, respectively, p=0.93). Length of stay in the SICU was 8.3 days for the treatment group and 8.6 days for the control group (p=0.89), and total LOS was 18.0 and 20.1 days, respectively (p=0.63). Conclusion. The time to first bowel movement was not significantly different between the treatment and control groups. Also, metoclopramide did not decrease LOS. Metoclopramide does not have a role in the treatment of postoperative ileus.