Effects of abdominal massage on gastrointestinal tolerance in critically ill patients fed by nasogastric tube: a systematic review and Meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the effect of abdominal massage on gastrointestinal tolerance in critically patients with nasogastric tube feeding. Methods The Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, The Wang fang database, Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database, Cochrane Libraty, PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL were searched. Two researchers conducted quality evaluation and data extraction on studies that met the inclusion criteria. Data were analyzed with RevMan5.3 software. Results Eight randomized controlled trials were included, including 628 patients. The results of Meta-analysis showed that abdominal massage could reduce the gastric residual volume of critically ill patients (WMD=-45.45, 95%CI -56.62--34.28, P<0.01), and reduce the incidence of gastric retention (OR=0.13, 95%CI 0.06 -0.29, P<0.01), incidence of abdominal distension (OR=0.23, 95% CI 0.13-0.43, P<0.01), incidence of vomiting (OR=0.14, 95% CI 0.06-0.36, P<0.01). Conclusions For critically ill patients with nasogastric tube feeding, abdominal massage can reduce the gastric residual volume and reduce the incidence of gastric retention, distension and vomiting. Key words: Abdomen; Massage; Critical care; Enteral nutrition; Meta-analysis