The Effect of Preoperative Abdominal Massage on Postoperative Constipation

May 5, 2026 updated by: Burcu Ozkan

The Effect of Preoperative Abdominal Massage on The Development of Postoperative Constipation: A Randomised Controlled Study

The aim of this clinical study is to determine whether preoperative abdominal massage has an effect on the development of postoperative constipation. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Does preoperative abdominal massage improve postoperative stool consistency? • Does preoperative abdominal massage prevent constipation? To see if abdominal massage is effective in preventing constipation, researchers will not apply any treatment to the second group and will compare the two groups.

Participants will:

  • Provide researchers with information about their preoperative and postoperative stool consistency and constipation status.
  • Inform the researchers if the group that received the massage experiences any adverse effects from the massage.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Abdominal massage, being a low-cost, non-invasive procedure with no known harmful side effects, and one that nurses can integrate into clinical practice, plays an important role in the management of constipation.

This study is a single-center, randomized controlled experimental trial planned to be conducted in the General Surgery Department of a Training and Research Hospital in Istanbul. Standard operating procedures for patient recruitment, data collection, data management, adverse event reporting, and change management processes have been predefined. The experimental group will receive abdominal massage twice daily for 15 minutes, while the control group will continue with routine care. Adverse events will be recorded after each session, and necessary protocol changes will be documented in accordance with formal change management procedures. The sample size was determined based on a power analysis performed with G*Power 3.1; 30 participants were planned for each group (total n=60; α=0.05, power=0.80). A complete case analysis approach will be adopted for missing data resulting from data inconsistencies, out-of-range results, or unanswered items, and group assignments will continue until data is complete. In accordance with the statistical analysis plan, the Mann-Whitney U test will be used for between-group comparisons and the Wilcoxon test for within-group comparisons for the Bristol Stool Scale (BSS) score, which is the primary outcome measure; For the secondary outcome measure, stool type distribution, the Chi-square test will be applied. Effect size will be reported using Cohen's d and odds ratio, and the statistical significance threshold will be set at p<0.05.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

60

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 (Türkiye)
    • Istanbul
      • Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey (Türkiye)
        • Health Sciences University Sultan Abdülhamid Han Training and Research Hospital

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion criteria:

  • Being hospitalized in the General Surgery Department
  • Experiencing constipation
  • Being 18 years of age or older
  • Having the cognitive ability to answer questions
  • Voluntary participation in the study

Exclusion criteria:

  • Being under 18 years of age
  • Not experiencing constipation
  • Having a condition that contraindicates abdominal massage (active intra-abdominal pathology, open wound, thrombocytopenia, etc.)
  • Insufficient cognitive ability

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: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control Group
Experimental: Abdominal Massage İnterventional Group
Massage Group
Other: Abdominal Massage
The procedure will be followed using a protocol prepared by researchers based on a literature review. Massage sessions are scheduled for 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM, 30 minutes after a meal. The massage duration is 15 minutes. The frequency of massage is twice a day. Necessary tools and equipment include liquid petroleum jelly and a towel. The massage techniques include effleurage (superficial and deep), petrissage, and vibration.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
BSS score
Time Frame: BSS score preoperative period and postoperative 24. hour
According to the Bristol Stool Scale, a score of 1-2 indicates "hard stools," 3-4-5 indicates "normal stools," and 6-7 indicates "soft-watery stools (diarrhea)."
BSS score preoperative period and postoperative 24. hour

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Stool type distribution/constipation
Time Frame: preoperative period and postoperative 24. hour
Stool type: hard/normal
preoperative period and postoperative 24. hour

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Burcu Ozkan

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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)

January 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 23, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

April 23, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 24, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 29, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 6, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 8, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 5, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 24/11/2022-984

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ICF
  • CSR

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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