Our objective was to evaluate the effects of postoperative xylitol gum chewing on gastrointestinal functional recovery after laparoscopy. Altogether, 120 patients undergoing elective gynecologic laparoscopy were randomly divided into 2 groups of 60 each (final numbers: 53 controls, 56 patients). Controls underwent a routine postoperative regimen. Starting 6 hour after surgery, study patients chewed mint-flavored, sugarless xylitol gum until flatus occurred thrice a day. Other postoperative management was routine. First bowel sounds, first flatus, first bowel movement, and discharge times were recorded. Symptoms included abdominal distension, nausea, and vomiting. First flatus and first bowel sounds occurred significantly (P<0.001) earlier in the study patients. No significant differences were found for first defecation time, hospitalization duration, or mild/severe intestinal obstruction (all P>0.05). Thus, xylitol gum chewing after laparoscopy can effectively shorten the time to first flatus and helps with postoperative gastrointestinal functional recovery. It is simple, convenient, and well tolerated.

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The aim of the study was to explore the role of parity, maternal age, medical interventions, and birth weight with respect to labor duration and cervical dilation. A total of 1601 pregnant women who had a singleton term gestation, spontaneous onset of labor, vertex presentation, vaginal delivery, and a normal perinatal outcome were reviewed. The retrospective study was conducted in patients from West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University during June 2008 to June 2013. There were 1367 nulliparous women and 234 multiparous women analyzed. The first stage (8.3 ± 3.8 vs 5.0 ± 2.6 hours), latent phase (5.1 ± 3.2 vs 3.5 ± 2.4 hours), active phase (3.2 ± 1.8 vs 1.5 ± 1.0 hours), second stage (44 ± 31 vs 18 ± 14 minutes), and total stage of labor (9.1 ± 3.9 vs 5.4 ± 2.6 hours) were all longer in nulliparous than in multipara women (all P < .05); but no significant difference in the third stage of labor (both 7 ± 4 minutes). In nulliparous women, the average time of first stage of labor increased by 58.257, 171.443, and 56.581 minutes due to artificial rupture of membranes, labor analgesia, and birth weight increased by 1 kg, respectively, but it decreased to 63.592 minutes by oxytocin usage, and the difference was significant. The average time of first stage of labor in nulliparous women aged from 26 to 30 years increased by 2.356 minutes compared to one in 20 to 26 years, but it increased by 1.802 minutes to the one in 30 to 39 years, compared to 20 to 26 years and the difference was not significant. The results were basically similar after multipara women were included. Labor was significantly shorter in multiparous women than that in nulliparous women. Increased birth weight significantly increased in the length of the active phase and the second stage among nulliparous women. The increase of age, artificial rupture of membranes, labor analgesia, and the increase of birth weight tends to increase the time of first stage of labor and total labor duration, whereas oxytocin could shorten it.

Although the ability of zinc to retard the oxidative process has been recognized for many years, zinc itself has been reported to induce oxidative stress. In order to give some insights into elucidating the role of intracellular Zn(2+) in cells suffering from oxidative stress, the effects of N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) and ZnCl(2) on cellular thiol content and intracellular Zn(2+) concentration were studied by use of 5-chloromethylfluorescein diacetate (5-CMF-DA) and FluoZin-3 pentaacetoxymethyl ester (FluoZin-3-AM) in rat thymocytes. The treatment of cells with NEM attenuated 5-CMF fluorescence and augmented FluoZin-3 fluorescence in a dose-dependent manner. These NEM-induced phenomena were observed under external Zn(2+)-free conditions. Results suggest that NEM decreases cellular thiol content and induces intracellular Zn(2+) release. Micromolar ZnCl(2) dose-dependently augmented both FluoZin-3 and 5-CMF fluorescences, suggesting that the elevation of intracellular Zn(2+) concentration increases cellular thiol content. Taken together, it is hypothesized that intracellular Zn(2+) release during oxidative stress is a trigger to restore cellular thiol content that is decreased by oxidative stress.

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