Bowel Sounds Are Not Associated With Flatus, Bowel Movement, or Tolerance of Oral Intake in Patients After Major Abdominal Surgery.

Background: Auscultation for bowel sounds has been advocated by some clinicians as a method to determine the resolution of postoperative ileus.

Objective: Our primary aim was to prospectively evaluate the relationships between bowel sounds and the ability to tolerate oral intake in patients after major abdominal surgery. Secondarily we aimed to evaluate relationships among bowel sounds, flatus and bowel movement, and oral intake.

Neoadjuvant therapy for rectal cancer: histologic response of the primary tumor predicts nodal status.

Purpose: This study was designed to compare histologic T and N stages in patients with rectal adenocarcinoma undergoing various neoadjuvant radiotherapy regimens and proctectomy, in an attempt to determine if final histologic stage of the mural tumor predicts nodal status.

Methods: Data were collected from computerized databases at two institutions on 649 consecutive patients who underwent neoadjuvant radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy and proctectomy for primary adenocarcinoma of the rectum from 1990 to 2002.

Results: Five patients were excluded because of incomplete pathology data sets, leaving a study population of 644.