Table 4.

Definitions of ileus as reported in published literature

Definition: incidence/duration of ‘postoperative ileus’ (n = 17 of 58, 29 per cent)

‘delay of the first postoperative flatus lasting for >72 hours (3·0 days) after surgery… or some other status requiring intervention for treatment for ileus’ ‘Patients meeting 2 or more of the following 5 criteria on or after day 4 postoperatively – nausea OR vomiting over the preceding 12 hours; inability to tolerate a solid or semi‐solid oral diet over the preceding 2 meal times; abdominal distension; absence of flatus AND stool over the preceding 24 hours; and radiologic evidence of ileus on abdominal plain film or CT over the preceding 24 hours’ ‘defined as lack of passage of flatus or stool and intolerance to oral intake for at least 24 h… on day 5 after operation’ ‘intolerance to oral food in the absence of clinical and radiological data of mechanical obstruction for more than 72 hours, or the need for a nasogastric tube’ ‘Ileus persisted until patient had normal bowel sounds or he/she was passing flatus’ ‘defined as failure of bowel sounds to return within 12 h postoperatively’ ‘the number of days before signs of restoration of the bowel function appeared (bowel movement, flatus, and stool) after which oral intake was restarted’ ‘resolution defined as passage of flatus or stool in the absence of nausea, vomiting, or abdominal distention’ ‘need for nasogastric tube reinsertion or discontinuation of oral intake’ ‘Adynamic or paralytic ileus that persisted for > 3 days following surgery’ ‘the condition in which the time required for the resumption of flatus passage after surgery exceeded 48 hours’ ‘The resolution of postoperative ileus was defined as having a bowel movement in the absence of abdominal distention and vomiting’ ‘the interval between the end of surgery and the first passage of gas or stool through the anus’ ‘defined as postoperative nausea/vomiting, accompanied by abdominal distention, absence of bowel function, and x‐ray findings consistent with ileus’ ‘non‐passage of gas or solid per rectum for 5 days, cessation of such passage, vomiting (on day 1), nasogastric intubation, continued intravenous fluids’ ‘abdominal distension, no flatus or bowel movement, or nausea/vomiting that prevents oral intake or requires therapeutic use of nasogastric tube’ ‘the inability to tolerate and resume oral solid diet intake beyond 6 days after surgery’

Definition: incidence/duration of ‘prolonged postoperative ileus’ (n = 5 of 13, 38 per cent)

‘The presence of two or more of the following signs/symptoms over the 4th postoperative day: abdominal distension, persistent and nonspecific abdominal pain, vomits and/or nausea, the absence of passage of flatus or stools, oral intolerance, and radiological findings on plain radiology’ ‘Defined as being resolved when all 4 of the following criteria were met – absence of nausea AND vomiting for 12 hours with nasogastric tube spigotted or removed; ability to tolerate a solid or semi‐solid diet at the preceding mealtime; absence of abdominal distension; and passage of flatus OR stool over the preceding 24 hours’ ‘no passage of flatus or stool by the end of the fifth post‐operative day’ ‘the inability to tolerate diet 5 days after surgery in the absence of active bowel sounds with the need for nasogastric decompression’

‘Two or more of the following criteria: (i) nausea/vomiting, (ii) inability to tolerate an oral diet for > 24 h, (iii) absence of flatus for > 24 h, (iv) distension and (v) radiological confirmation occurring on or after day 4 postoperatively without prior resolution of POI’