Abdominal Massage for Gastric Residual Volume in Surgical Patients

June 11, 2025 updated by: Marmara University

The Effect of Abdominal Massage on Gastric Residual Volume and Abdominal Distension in Surgical Intensive Care Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This randomized controlled trial aimed to evaluate the effect of abdominal massage on gastric residual volume (GRV) and abdominal distension in surgical intensive care patients receiving enteral nutrition. The intervention group received 20-minute abdominal massage sessions twice daily for 3 consecutive days. Outcomes included changes in GRV, abdominal circumference, feeding volume, and gastrointestinal tolerance parameters.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Gastric residual volume (GRV) monitoring is commonly used in critically ill patients receiving enteral nutrition to assess gastrointestinal dysfunction, although current guidelines present conflicting recommendations regarding its necessity. Abdominal distension is a frequent complication during enteral feeding in surgical ICU patients. Non-pharmacological interventions such as abdominal massage have shown promise in improving gastrointestinal motility and enteral tolerance.

This study included 84 surgical ICU patients who met the inclusion criteria and were randomly assigned to intervention (n=42) and control (n=42) groups. The intervention group received abdominal massage twice daily for 20 minutes over three days. Data were collected using standardized forms and analyzed with appropriate statistical tests including independent samples t-test, Mann-Whitney U, repeated measures ANOVA, and chi-square tests. The findings suggest that abdominal massage may help stabilize GRV levels, reduce abdominal circumference, and increase nutritional intake without increasing complications.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

84

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Turkey
    • İ̇stanbul
      • Istanbul, İ̇stanbul, Turkey, 34230
        • Seyrantepe Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital, Surgical Intensive Care Units

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age ≥ 18 years
  • Receiving enteral nutrition via nasogastric tube
  • No prior abdominal surgery
  • No invasive devices (e.g., drains, catheters) in the abdominal area

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Receiving enteral nutrition via PEG or PEJ
  • Receiving only parenteral nutrition
  • History of abdominal surgery

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Abdominal Massage Group
Patients in this group received abdominal massage for 20 minutes, twice daily, for three consecutive days after the initiation of enteral nutrition.
Behavioral: Abdominal Massage
Non-pharmacological intervention involving manual massage of the abdomen to support gastric motility and reduce gastric residual volume and abdominal distension in enterally fed surgical ICU patients.
No Intervention: Control Group
Patients in this group received standard postoperative care without abdominal massage.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Amount of gastric residual volume (mL)
Time Frame: Day 3
Starting from the first day of enteral nutrition, gastric residual volume (mL) will be recorded at regular intervals every day for 3 days. The amount of GRV changing from the first day to the 3rd day will be measured and analysed.
Day 3
Change in abdominal circumference
Time Frame: Day 3
Abdominal circumference will be measured on the first day of enteral feeding and abdominal circumference will be measured every day at the same time for 3 days. The change in abdominal circumference (cm) from baseline to Day 3 will be recorded.
Day 3

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Amount of enteral feeding (mL/day)
Time Frame: Day 3
The total amount of nutritional product taken on the first day of enteral nutrition will be recorded for 3 days. The amount taken from the beginning to the 3rd day will be recorded in ml/day.
Day 3
Assessment of abdominal distension
Time Frame: Day 3
On the first day of enteral nutrition, abdominal circumference will be measured and abdominal distension will be evaluated by auscultating bowel sounds and daily X-rays. The presence or absence of abdominal distension from the beginning to the 3rd day will be recorded.
Day 3
Interruption of enteral nutrition
Time Frame: Day 3
From the first day of starting enteral nutrition, the reasons for which continuous nutrition is interrupted (for example, going to another unit for radiological examination or re-operation for revision purposes, etc.) will be monitored and recorded for 3 days.
Day 3

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Marmara University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 5, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 5, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

April 5, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 23, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 11, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

June 12, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 12, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 11, 2025

Last Verified

June 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • ABMGRVSICU

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

This study does not plan to share individual participant data due to privacy concerns and institutional policy.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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