Prunes for Gastrointestinal Function After Gynecologic Surgery

• Status: Terminated
• Trial end date: 2020-07-31
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: Female

Summary

This is a prospective, randomized control trial that randomizes patients post-operatively into standard care versus standard care plus prunes. Patients in the control arm will take 100 mg docusate twice per day for 3 days (standard care). Participants in the treatment arm will consume 4 oz prunes daily and take 100 mg docusate twice per day for 3 days. The primary objective is to determine the time to first bowel movement after surgery.

• Phase: Phase 4
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: University of Southern California
• Treatments: Bismuth subsalicylate

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Female patients seen in the Gynecology or Urogynecology clinics at LAC+USC Medical Center who are planned for surgery requiring at least 24 hour stay

2. Age 18 or greater

3. Able to give informed consent

4. No contraindications to docusate or prune consumption

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Unable to give informed consent

2. Unwilling to follow protocol

3. Active malignancy

4. Emergency surgery

5. Diabetes mellitus

6. Inflammatory bowel disease, gastroparesis, or other bowel disorder

7. History of bowel resection or presence of colostomy

8. Dependence on regular laxative use prior to surgery

9. Baseline frequency of bowel movements less than weekly

10. Intraoperative enterotomy or any bowel surgery performed at the time of surgery

11. Patient unable to initiate oral intake on post op day 1 for any reason

12. Allergy to docusate or prunes