Effects of abdominal massage on gastrointestinal function in ICU patients: a meta-analysis

Objective: To evaluate the effects of abdominal massage on gastrointestinal function in the intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Methods: Randomized controlled trials about the effects of abdominal massage on gastrointestinal function in ICU patients were included from multiple electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, Embase, CINAHL, China Academic Journals Full-Text Database (CNKI), Wanfang Database, and CQVIP, until November 2018. Studies were selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracting data and assessing. Data were analyzed by RevMan 5.3. Results: Nine studies with 720 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis in the intervention group were as follows:abdomen circumference: mean difference (MD)=-4.22, 95% confidence interval (CI)=(-6.20, -2.24), P