Impact of abdominal massage on enteral nutrition complications in adult critically ill patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Adult critically ill patients are prone to complications when receiving enteral nutrition, including feeding intolerance. Although abdominal massage is an effective intervention, its effects on enteral nutrition complications in adult critically ill patients are controversial. To summarize and evaluate the effect of abdominal massage on enteral nutrition complications in adult critically ill patients. We searched databases (e.g., PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science) from inception until November 2020 for relevant studies published in English. The methodological quality of selected studies was assessed with the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2.0 tool. And we used of PRISMA 2020 guidelines. The meta-analysis results were reported as mean difference (MD) and events, and the heterogeneity of the studies was evaluated using I2. Seven studies including 472 participants (aged≥18 years) met the inclusion criteria. The mean gastric residual volume (GRV) (MD=−42.41, 95% confidence interval [CI]: −71.43, −13.39; P = 0.004) and incidence of abdominal distension (odds ratio [OR]=0.08, 95%CI: 0.03, 0.19; P