Foot Reflexology is Useful for Treating Ileus that Develops after Rectal Surgery: The REFLEX 1 Pilot Study

Anais Carraze; Arthur Marichez; Mehdi Boubaddi; Lara Boissieras; Samuel Amintas; Bertrand Celerier; Pauline Riviere; Quentin Denost; Florian Poullenot; Benjamin Fernandez

Foot Reflexology is Useful for Treating Ileus that Develops after Rectal Surgery: The REFLEX 1 Pilot Study

by Anais Carraze¹, Arthur Marichez^1,2, Mehdi Boubaddi^1,2, Lara Boissieras¹, Samuel Amintas², Bertrand Celerier¹, Pauline Riviere⁴, Quentin Denost³, Florian Poullenot⁴, Benjamin Fernandez^1,2*

¹Department of Digestive Surgery, Colorectal Unit, Bordeaux University Hospital, France

²BRIC (BoRdeaux Institute of Oncology), UMR1312, INSERM, University of Bordeaux, France

³Bordeaux Colorectal Institute, Tivoli Hospital, Bordeaux, France

⁴Department of Gastroenterology, Bordeaux University Hospital, France

^*Corresponding author: Benjamin Fernandez, Department of Digestive Surgery, Colorectal Unit, Bordeaux University Hospital, France

Received Date: 25 February 2025

Accepted Date: 03 March 2025

Published Date: 05 March 2025

Citation: Carraze A, Marichez A, Boubaddi M, Boissieras L, Amintas S, et al. (2025) Foot Reflexology is Useful for Treating Ileus that Develops after Rectal Surgery: The REFLEX 1 Pilot Study. J Surg 10: 11267 https://doi.org/10.29011/2575-9760.011267

Abstract

Background: Postoperative ileus develops in one-third of patients after colorectal surgery. A few studies have unsuccessfully sought ways to decrease the ileus rate.

Methods: This monocentric cohort study enrolled patients who underwent rectal oncological resections between November 2021 and June 2023. Patients were assigned at a 1:1 ratio to groups that received foot reflexology or not. The primary endpoint was the development of postoperative ileus and the secondary endpoints were pain, time to gas/stool production, length of hospital stay, and morbidity.

Results: We enrolled 108 adults of whom 62% were male of median age 66 years (range 41–66 years). The baseline characteristics were well balanced between the two groups. Postoperative ileus developed in 17 patients, 4 of 52 (8%) in the experimental group and 13 of 56 (23%) in the control group. The groups significantly differed in terms of pain at 48 h and time to resumption of gas/stool production after 3 days. No other significant difference between-group differences were noted.

Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to report that foot reflexology improves the postoperative outcomes after rectal resection, particularly postoperative ileus and pain.

Keywords: Ileus; Rectal cancer; Rectal surgery