NPO after abdominal surgery

Nursing Students Student Assist

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hi guys, can anyone help me in understanding why patients are NPO after abdominal surgery and also why is there NGT suction.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

First what kind of abdominal surgery. Not all of them are NPO post op. If you mean surgery on the bowel.....think about it and you can figure out why.

What are the effects on manipulation of the bowel?

What are the effects of anesthesia on peristalsis?

If the bowels are not "working" and the stomach will continue to produce gastric juices why would you need the NGT?

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Specializes in Pedi.

In school, the general rule is that post-op patients are NPO until bowel sounds return.

In pediatrics, I've seen kids eating chicken fingers in the PACU.

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Aspirating gastric contents could lead to poor post-op outcomes.

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What does your text book tell you about assessing the abdomen after surgery? What are you expecting to find, when, and what accounts for that?

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