Postoperative ileus (POI) is a common disorder after major abdominal surgery, affecting up to 40% of patients undergoing laparotomy. POI is described as the time between surgery and the first passage of flatus and/or stool and tolerance of oral diet. It could be recognised as postoperative complication when is defined as two or more of nausea/vomiting, inability to tolerate oral diet over 24 h, absence of flatus over 24 h, abdominal distention and radiologic confirmation on or after day 4 postoperatively without prior resolution. Multimodal approaches have been described to treat POI; among them, the early consumption of coffee showed a substantial benefit after colorectal and gynecologic surgery. The objective of this randomised placebo-controlled trial is to investigate whether early coffee consumption can accelerate the recovery of bowel function after open pancreaticoduodenectomy.
Postoperative ileus is a common complication after major abdominal surgery. A positive effect of coffee to bowel movement has been described after colorectal and gynecologic interventions. The objective of this randomised controlled trial is to investigate whether the implementation of a fast track protocol with early coffee consumption accelerates the recovery of bowel function after pancreaticoduodenectomy.