To investigate the clinical efficacy of gastro-intestinal decompression in oral cancer patients who undergo resection and reconstruction surgery.

Two hundred and thirty oral cancer patients undergoing resection and reconstruction surgery were selected from department of oral and maxillofacial surgery, Hospital of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University. The patients were divided into two groups: Control group (n = 115) , and the experimental group (n = 115) . Patients hospitalized from December 2010 to February 2013 were included into the control group, and patients hospitalized from March 2013 to August 2014 were included into the experimental group. The experimental group was indwelled gastric tube at the onset after operation and gave a postoperative continuous gastro-intestinal decompression. The patients were given nasal feeding on the first day after surgery. Comparing to the experimental group, patients in the control group did not undergo decompression during the surgery. And the patients were indwelled gastric tube and gave nasal feeding on the first day after surgery. The incidence rates of vomiting, nausea and gastrointestinal reaction were compared between the control group and the experimental group by Chi-square test and Fish exact probability method.

In the control group, 17 patients were suffered from postoperative nausea and hiccups (the incidence rate is 14.78%) , 26 patients were suffered from vomiting (the incidence rate is 22.61%) , and 2 patients were suffered from aspiration pneumonia (the incidence rate is 4.35%) . In the experimental group, there were 5 patients suffering from hiccups and nausea (the incidence rate is 1.74%) , and 2 patients suffering from vomiting (the incidence rate is 1.74%) . In addition, aspiration pneumonia was not reported in the control group. The incidence of vomiting (χ² = 23.410, P = 0.003) , nausea and hiccups (χ² = 7.238, P = 0.008) as well as gastrointestinal reaction (χ² = 33.120, P = 0.005) of the experimental group were markedly lower than that in the control group.

Giving continuous decompression to the oral cancer patients after resection and reconstruction surgery can reduce postoperative nausea, hiccups and vomiting, which prevents postoperative wound infection and benefit to flap survival. Moreover, changes in condition of patients can be detected through observing the nature of drainage fluid, which is helpful for patient safety.