Nursing Students Student Assist
Published Feb 19, 2015
ashorobi86
1 Post
hi guys, can anyone help me in understanding why patients are NPO after abdominal surgery and also why is there NGT suction.
Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN
1 Article; 20,908 Posts
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?
KelRN215, BSN, RN
1 Article; 7,349 Posts
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.
mariebailey, MSN, RN
948 Posts
Aspirating gastric contents could lead to poor post-op outcomes.
nurseprnRN, BSN, RN
1 Article; 5,116 Posts
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?