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Effect of prunes on gastrointestinal function after benign gynecological surgery: a randomized control trial

  • Controlled Clinical Trials
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Abstract

Objective

To investigate the effect of postoperative prune consumption on time to first bowel movement after benign gynecologic surgery.

Materials and methods

In this randomized, open label, controlled trial, 77 adult women who had benign gynecologic surgery that required at least one night in the hospital were enrolled from July 2018 to April 2019. Participants were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to one of two groups using a randomization assignment: 4 oz prunes daily plus docusate sodium 100 g twice daily versus docusate alone. The study’s primary objective was time to first bowel movement (BM). Secondary outcomes were pain associated with first BM, stool consistency using Bristol stool scale, and patient satisfaction with bowel regimen and surgery experience.

Results

Postoperative survey data was available for 68.4% of participants (n = 52). There was no difference in time to first BM between the two groups (p = 0.29); however, consumption of > 12 prunes was associated with an increased likelihood of having a BM in the study period. Among women who consumed at least 12 prunes, hospital discharge was earlier, and there was a not statistically significant greater satisfaction with postoperative bowel regimen.

Conclusions

The addition of prunes to postoperative bowel regimen of docusate sodium may be a beneficial adjunct to postoperative bowel regimen.

Clinical trial

The Institutional Review Board at the University of Southern California approved the study, and the study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (ID: NCT03523715).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 1975 Zonal Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA

    Melody A. Rasouli

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Nevada, 1701 W Charleston Blvd., Ste. 290, Las Vegas, NV, 89102, USA

    Melody A. Rasouli

  3. Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 2020 Zonal Ave., Room 220, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA

    Christina E. Dancz, Molly Dahl, Katherine A. Volpe, Christine J. Horton & Begum Z. Ozel

Authors
  1. Melody A. Rasouli
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  2. Christina E. Dancz
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  3. Molly Dahl
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  4. Katherine A. Volpe
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  5. Christine J. Horton
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  6. Begum Z. Ozel
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Contributions

MA Rasouli: project development, data collection, manuscript writing.

CE Dancz: project development, data collection, manuscript writing.

M Dahl: data collection, manuscript editing.

KA Volpe: data collection, manuscript editing.

CJ Horton: data collection, manuscript editing.

BZ Ozel: project development, data collection, manuscript writing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Melody A. Rasouli.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Consent for publication

Yes.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Rasouli, M.A., Dancz, C.E., Dahl, M. et al. Effect of prunes on gastrointestinal function after benign gynecological surgery: a randomized control trial. Langenbecks Arch Surg 407, 3803–3810 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00423-022-02584-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00423-022-02584-8

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